Love Note
by Derekloffin
Summary: Kasumi runs across a rather particular notebook, death note fusion.
1. Chapter 1

Ranma ½

Love Note

Usual disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, any resemblance to Ranma ½ or Death Note is purely intentional, and the rest of that jazz.

For the purposes of this story, any text within single quotes like 'this' is considered a thought.

For those already with us, you might want to reread this chapter. I've updated it a bit to add a few things, mostly at the end (and some editting). For anyone new here, well of course you want to read this chapter:

**Chapter 1**

It all started one seemingly typical day. It was nothing out of the ordinary... maybe a little hot, but not truly noteworthy. So it was that Kasumi Tendo, eldest daughter of Soun Tendo, was out in the yard hanging the morning laundry. This too was nothing unusual. It was a daily routine for Kasumi, and one she went about without any particular notice.

The rest of the household was out on one matter or another. Ranma, Nabiki and Akane were off at school as per usual and wouldn't be back for some hours to come. Her father and Genma were out having a lunch together, a bit unusual given the family's tight budget, but not that uncommon. And finally, the infamous panty thief and all around pervert Happosai was... well, Kasumi really had no idea where he was, nor did she have any particular inclination to find out.

So, it was that Kasumi found herself alone this afternoon, and she herself was already planning a short outing of her own to buy some much needed household supplies. Her mind divided between mentally making up a list and the hanging of the laundry, she took no notice of the notebook falling to the grass just behind her. In fact, she did not notice it for a full 10 minutes, only finally discovering it as she bumped against it with her foot.

"Hmm, what is this doing here?" Kasumi wondered aloud as she looked at the odd pink booklet with a large heart inscribed on the cover. Stopping her laundry work, Kasumi picked the book up to examine it. It was not particularly large, and seemed rather thin, like a simple notebook for appointments. However, the cover was unusual. "Love Note?" Kasumi repeated the title in puzzlement. "I wonder who the owner of this could be?"

The exterior of the book gave no particular clue to it's owner so, curious, Kasumi opened it to it's first page. Inscribed on that page were several numbered lines of text, written in English with a precise but elegant handwriting. Kasumi looked over the first line, reading it aloud. "The human whose name is written in this note shall fall in love." Kasumi smiled in amusement at this, but continued reading. "This note will not take effect unless the writer has the subject's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected. If the person to be the object of the subject's affection is written within 42 seconds of writing the subject's name, the subject will fall in love with that person. If the person to be the object of the subject's affection is not specified, the subject will simply fall in love with the first compatible person they encounter. After writing the object of the affection, the details of the subject falling in love should be written in the next 6 minutes and 54 seconds. "

Finally finished, Kasumi shook her head in amusement. "That's just silly," she thought aloud. "I guess this must belong to Akane or Nabiki," she concluded as she closed the book, dropping into onto the top of a basket of laundry ready to be taken in. There it was promptly forgotten as Kasumi finished with the laundry. It was another half hour when Kasumi was back inside, putting away yesterday's laundry that she once more took notice of the book, and considered what to do with it. 'I can't very well just leave it out. It could be something important. And, I don't know who it really belongs too... I suppose I'll just take it with me.' So decided, Kasumi grabbed up the note book, got properly dressed and headed out to do some shopping, the note book safely stowed in her purse.

* * *

"Oh, good afternoon Kasumi!" greeted one Jin Itsuki, a local fruit vendor that Kasumi tended to favor when at the market.

"Hello Mr. Itsuki," Kasumi returned the greeting with a friendly bow.

"Out shopping?" he asked pleasantly to which Kasumi smiled and nodded.

"Yes. Anything on special today?"

"Unfortunately no. Had a good shot at a shipment of Kiwi's but they turned out to be of rather poor quality."

"That's too bad," Kasumi replied. "I'll suppose I'll just get my usual order then."

"Good stuff," he said with a smile and set about gathering the usual assortment of goods for Kasumi in a bag. As he did, his eyes stopped on a passer by and he paused with a wistful smile. Curious, Kasumi followed his gaze to see a rather pretty woman looking over the goods at another booth, unaware of the attention she was receiving. Her attention quickly returned to Jin as he cleared his throat nosily, and flushed in embarrassment. "It's... well... that is..." he tried to explain but just gave up with a nervous chuckle.

"Why don't you go talk to her?" Kasumi suggested.

"Talk... nah... I get all flustered and nervous. A lady like that would never be interested in a small time merchant like me anyway," he replied with a slightly downcast look, but quickly brightened up. "Ah, here I am going on... Don't you go worrying about me, Kasumi."

Kasumi nodded in understanding, collected her goods and prepared to pay Jin before setting off to complete the rest of her shopping. However, as she reached into her purse she was once more was reminded of the note. Thoughtfully, Kasumi's turned to look behind her, and saw the woman was still nearby. 'That's silly...' she thought, but then turned back to Jin. "I don't suppose you know her name?"

"Huh? Oh, it's Chika Hoshi, why?"

"Oh, no reason," Kasumi replied with an innocent smile and finished paying Jin. "Have a good day," she said as she departed, looking for a discrete spot. A few moments later she had a pen in hand and a nice look out. "It won't work," she said as she wrote down Chika Hoshi followed by Jin Itsuki, and then stood back to watch. Seconds passed slowly and Kasumi was just about to conclude it was indeed just a silly book when the woman suddenly stopped, her eyes wide as if a realization had hit her. She then turned and looked at Jin for a long moment, unnoticed by him, before rushing over. "It worked..." Kasumi said in surprise. Kasumi quickly looked around her to ensure no one was watching her. Finding no one suspicious, Kasumi fell into thought. 'I suppose it could just be a coincidence...' she thought. 'And even if it wasn't, it is highly inappropriate to use such a thing. Yes, I should just take it home and hide it somewhere, that's it. I'm sure I won't be tempted to use it again. I'm certain.'

* * *

Five days later Kasumi was once more out in the yard, once more hanging laundry, and once more having a relatively normal day. That is, until she a rather unexpected voice behind her.

"Oh where is it?! I'm going to be in so much trouble," a woman's voice said, clearly distressed. "I have to find it before-"

"Ah, hello?" Kasumi greeted as she turned to see a very unexpected sight. Floating almost a foot off the ground was a woman in a white dress with a pair of angel like wings on her back. Despite Kasumi's obvious presence, the angel like women looked to have nearly jumped out of her skin at being talked to.

"You can see me?!" she asked in obvious worry.

"Why yes," Kasumi responded with a smile. "You're probably here for the Love Note, aren't you?"

"You found it?" the Angel asked with a cringe and gained a nod from Kasumi. The angel quickly restored her composure and fell into a frown of thought, but after only a few seconds she pointed accusingly at Kasumi, trying to make herself as big and menacing as possible. "You should know that that book is very evil. If you write anything in it there could be dire consequences... and stuff. You know, go to hell kind of stuff... yeah."

"Oh my," Kasumi said with a very worried look.

At seeing this, all of the angel's bluster faded into disappointment. "You wrote in it, didn't you?" Kasumi mutely nodded. "Ooooh, why can't you humans just keep your paws off. Darn it!" The angel exclaimed as she hung her head.

"So... I'm going to hell now?"

"No..." the angel replied, dismissing the threat with a wave of her hand. "I just made that up. I was hoping you'd give it up before you used it. There are... consequences, but nothing like that."

"Oh, I see," Kasumi said with a sigh of relief.

The angel, however, was not so relieved, and looked up at the heavens. "And now that you've used it, it's officially yours. This will be a real pain."

"Oh, I'm ever so sorry if I've caused you any trouble," Kasumi said quickly with an apologetic bow.

"Oh... what is done is done I guess," the angel replied with another sigh and looked back at Kasumi. "By the way, my name is Trista. I'm a love goddess, and that note was mine."

"Yours?"

"Yes. We love goddesses use notes like that one to... well, work our power."

Kasumi nodded in understanding. "So then, if I might ask, why did you leave your note here?"

Trista considered her response for a long moment, then flew in close to Kasumi, meeting her eyes with a level gaze. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course."

Once more Trista considered, but finally came to a conclusion and answered, "I kinda dropped it."

"Oh..." Kasumi replied, looking somewhat disappointed

"Why do you ask?"

"I suppose... I thought that perhaps that you... may have chosen me."

"Chosen? Oh, how I wish. At least then I could claim it was on purpose. As soon as this gets out to the other goddesses, I'm going to be a laughing stock," Trista said with a downcast look.

"Then, why did you write the instructions in it?"

Trista considered for a second, but finally spoke. "I'm kinda... forgetful. That's why I didn't come sooner. I only realized I dropped it about a couple hours ago. Took me most of that time to find my backup," Trista replied, patting a much more worn and clearly overused notebook attached at her hip. After looking disdainfully at her replacement, she turned to the sky with sad expression. "And I liked that one sooo much. I got the color scheme all right and everything. This one is so ugly," she moaned as she fidgeted, pressing her index fingers together.

"Oh."

"Yeah, well, that's neither here nor there. Spilled milk and all that," Trista said with another dismissive wave of her hand, and seemed to regain some of her spirit. "Well, might as well find out what the damage is. Alright, let's see what you've done with the thing. Where you keeping it?"

"Just up in my room."

"In the open?!" Trista exclaimed. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that thing can be in the wrong hands?"

"I've hidden it," Kasumi quickly replied.

"Ah... whatever. Let's see it."

Obediently, Kasumi lead Trista to her room and produced the love note for her. The love goddess starting leafing through it, her eyes growing increasingly wider with each page. "How many names have you written in here?!" the goddess asked in near horror.

"I really haven't counted."

"Oh my god!" Trista exclaimed, dropping the note onto Kasumi bed and hanging her head.

"Did I do something bad?"

Her hands held over her face in frustration, Trista only gave Kasumi a quick peek before shaking her head. "What did I ever do to deserve this..." she mumbled in despair.

* * *

**End Chapter One**

Okay, after some good response, I've decided to try writing a few chapters. Unlike my usual efforts, I think I'll try and keep these chapters brief. I tend to go overboard so we'll see how that goes. However, everyone should realize I only have bits of pieces of ideas in my head for this one, so all input is welcome. Suggestions are not guaranteed to be used, but they may well inspire me.


	2. Chapter 2

Ranma ½

Love Note

Usual disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, any resemblance to Ranma ½ or Death Note is purely intentional, and the rest of that jazz.

For the purposes of this story, any text within single quotes like 'this' is considered a thought.

**Chapter 2**

The day was coming to a close when Kasumi returned to her room to find Trista, laid out on Kasumi's bed, still going thru the Love Note. "Are you quite certain no one can see you?" Kasumi asked quietly after closing the door.

Eying Kasumi for a second, Trista took in a deep breath and then yelled out, "HEY EVERYONE, THIS IS TRISTA, AND I'M A LOVE GODDESS! COME SEE ME IN KASUMI'S ROOM!" This naturally caused Kasumi to start and look back at the door nervously. However, there was no commotion, no footsteps approaching, no nothing. Life in the Tendo home went on as usual. "See, can't hear me, can't see me. I could yell into their ears right next to them and they would be none the wiser, now stop worrying, would you. Besides, you have far bigger issues than me."

Sitting up finally, Trista frowned. "Most humans who get their hands on a Love Note just start writing the names of every pretty girl, or handsome guy they know, and set them to love themselves, but you..." Thrusting the notebook at Kasumi open to one of the first pages, Trista nearly yelled, "There has to be over fifty names on this page alone, and there are a lot more pages just like it! What the heck were you thinking?! And none of them are directed at you!"

"That would be very inappropriate," Kasumi replied. "I couldn't take advantage of such a power for my own gain like that."

"Oh no! Then what the heck are you doing then?!"

"Well..." Kasumi said nervously, and grabbed her chair to sit. "You see, my sister... she's engaged to this boy named Ranma. But, you see, there are a few... well many complications." Kasumi began to explain, urged on by Trista intense stare. "After I found out the note worked, I decided to try and help her out... just a little. Besides, at the time I wasn't even sure it worked. I had tested it once but... well anyway, you see they have a few other people who are... interested in them and I thought if I could get those people interested in other people..."

Trista immediately slapped her forehead and crashed backwards onto the bed. "Oh no..."

"Yes... I did discover a few slight flaws in that."

"A few?" Trista repeated as she stared at the roof in despair.

"To be fair, your rules didn't exactly make clear the full limitations of the note."

Finally getting back up, Trista waved off the explanation. "Okay, okay, but I don't care how popular these two are, they can't possibly have that many love interests. Where are all these other names from?"

"Television mostly," Kasumi answered.

"Television? What does that have to-"

"I needed to do a few tests for my next attempt," Kasumi quickly explained, but only caused Trista to once more fall back in the bed. Ignoring her reaction, Kasumi continued. "Perhaps it was a bit... ill considered, but I think it worked out fairly well. And then I started to think there are many other people on television that could use a little love... and then I started thinking about all the conflicts I could solve by using the note..."

"Alright," Trista cut in as she flew up off the bed and to a standing position. "Okay, I guess what is done is done."

"So... what happens now?" Kasumi asked.

"Now? Didn't I already say that? Oh, whatever, the note is officially yours to do with as you please."

Kasumi blinked in shock at this. "Really? Mine? I can keep using it?"

"Yes," Trista reaffirmed.

"And I won't be punished?"

Trista looked away absently. "I wouldn't go quite that far. Humans and notes don't tend to mix well. Tends to cause nothing but trouble for them. Also, as the previous owner of the note, I have to stay here with you from now on, that is until you find your true love."

"My true love?" Kasumi asked, her interest peaked.

"An eternal love, one that will be with you till the end of your days. Very rare those. Very few humans ever find a true love. When you do, I will use my note to bring you together, and your note will forever lose it's power. Till then though, it's all yours."

"And if I don't ever find one?"

"Then whoever next picks up the note, or the person after that, and so on and so on, until one true love pairing is found, or the note is destroyed. Believe you me, I'm not looking forward to this, but those are the rules. Personally, I think they're punishment to us goddesses for being sloppy with our notes, but I don't make the rules so..."

Kasumi smiled thoughtfully. "That doesn't sound so bad at all."

Suddenly serious, Trista turned to Kasumi and looked at her intensely. "There is one final consequence, this one for you personally. Any love you knew before using the Love Note is forever forbidden to you."

"Forever forbidden?" Kasumi echoed in shock, and some confusion.

"Yes. Oh, your feelings won't change at all, but let's just say fate is against you ever getting together. Try as hard as you might, you'll never be with any previous love. Even your Love Note can't change that, and trust me when I say this, don't try and force it. Bad things tend to happen when you do."

"Oh," Kasumi said sadly. "I see..."

"Sorry," Trista said in honest sympathy. "But, it's not all bad. That just applies to previous love interests. Any new ones you form are free and clear."

Kasumi considered this for a moment and nodded, with a weak smile. "I suppose that's not so bad," she said, but her mind couldn't help but drift off.

Sensing Kasumi needed a moment, Trista looked around the room. However, the moment was interrupted with a knock at the door. Before Kasumi could respond, Trista poked her head straight through door to take a look, much to Kasumi's shock. Popping her head back in, Trista said, "It's just some boy."

"Um... Yes?" Kasumi said as she opened the door to see Ranma holding a plate of cookies.

"Hey Kasumi, your Dad said I should bring you some of these," he said with apparent disinterest, thrusting the plate forward and looking away.

"This is that Ranma boy you were talking about," Trista said as she floated into the hallway to examine him. "I suppose he's not a bad catch as humans go. Wait... are those... cookies?!"

Kasumi watched in confusion as the love goddess went from her expression of slight superiority to one more typical of a puppy dog as she seemed to almost salivate over the dish. "Uh, thank you Ranma," Kasumi said quickly as she took the plate from him. Still apparently disinterested in the whole thing, Ranma merely nodded and headed back toward his room. Kasumi sighed in some relief and returned into her room, ensuring to close the door behind her as Trista followed along. "You can have them if you-" Kasumi started to say, but Trista needed no further prompted as she grabbed almost the entire plate's contents and quickly began munching down on them.

"Oo... so nice..." Trista said between bites. "We never get these where I come from."

"Oh, that's too bad."

"You... never... did say how... it went... with him," Trista continue on as she ate.

"Oh... as I said, it didn't quite go as planned. In fact, I'm still not sure exactly what happened, that's why I've been using the note on people on TV. Unfortunately, it's all very confusing."

Finally finished, Trista let out a deep sigh of contentment before sitting heavily on the bed once more. "Okay, normally I'm not supposed to help you. But, let it not be said I'm without a heart. For the free cookies I'll see if I can tell you where you went wrong. So, what did you do?"

Nodding, Kasumi reseated herself and started to explain. "First of all, there is this girl from China who is also interested in Ranma. There is also this boy who is interested in her. I figured if I got them together, that would help Ranma out."

"Sounds reasonable."

"I thought so too, and it seemed to work, but then..."

* * *

"Wait, Shampoo, I didn't, I swear!" Mousse tried to explain as he retreated out the front door of the Nekohanten. However, when a sword was swung directly at his head, he was forced to tumble backwards to the pavement. As he did, that same sword was swung again and embedded itself mere millimeters from Mousse's groin causing him to pale considerably before looking up to see Shampoo coming out, her eyes full of nothing but hate.

"Liar! Is no way Shampoo would kiss you unless you put spell on Shampoo!" Shampoo retorted and she put her hand once more on the handle of her blade.

"But I didn't-"

"Stop stupid lies! Shampoo no know how you do it, but Shampoo know you do it! Is only explanation. If Shampoo ever see you again, next time Shampoo no miss," she threatened with eyes that made clear that she meant every word. With no further conversation, Shampoo pulled her sword from the ground, spun on her heel and headed back inside, leaving Mousse in despair in the street.

* * *

"Hmm... Sounds like a bad compatibility problem," Trista concluded, confusing Kasumi. "You see, the Love Note can make you fall in love, it however doesn't say you'll stay in love. That depends on compatibility. Basically, you can divide compatibility into 3 rough categories. The first and best is as I already mentioned, true loves. They're eternally compatible. The next is your normal compatibles, they will typically stay in love for quite a while. Then there are your incompatibles which are so off that they only last days. I'm guessing this girl was of the latter type with this guy."

"Yes, I see. That is in fact the conclusion I was starting to come to myself after all my testing," Kasumi thought aloud.

"So, what else?"

"Well, after that disaster, I figured maybe it would be best to just let the note decide on who the person should be with."

"Ooo... not too smart."

"Yes, I suppose in hindsight... but I couldn't really think of anyone suitable for this one girl..."

* * *

"OUT!" Came a sound of outrage and anger from the Okonomiyaki shop of one Ukyo Kuonji. As the yell came, a figure came skyrocketing out the front door and flew off into the night, a trail of black rose peddles trailing in it's wake. However, the figure quickly righted itself in midair and landed on a nearby rooftop as Ukyo came to the door, furious.

"Oh Ukyo, Darling, if only you'd let yourself embrace the passion between us," Kodachi Kuno replied just before dodging a dozen small throwing spatulas.

"Like heck! I'd sooner kiss a mad buffalo! Now, get away from me you sicko! I'm not interested!" Ukyo called out as she continued to try and chase off the intruder.

* * *

Kasumi looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "I suppose it was just unfortunate coincidence that Kodachi happened to be walking by Ukyo's restaurant at the time. I really would never have expected the Love Note to allow... that sort of thing."

Trista shook her head. "Nope, sorry, totally gender neutral. Of course, if it's against someone's natural sexuality, it doesn't tend to last, but since the default rule picks only compatible partners, I guess that means this Kodachi actually bends both ways."

"It would seem so," Kasumi had to agree. "And the worst part is, all of them still love Ranma."

"Yep, Love Note doesn't care about monogamy either," Trista replied. "So, anything else?"

"Yes, unfortunately. You see, after that happened, I thought it would be best to limit myself to the direct problem of Ranma and Akane's relationship. So, I thought that if Ranma could be more open with his feelings to Akane..."

"Ooo, amateur mistake," Trista said with a sympathetic grimace.

"Yes, it didn't quite turn out as I planned, but this one is the most confusing to me..."

* * *

"Ranma is responsible for this. I don't know how, but it can only be him! He's the only one who could gain from this!" Mousse grumbled as he walked through the streets considering his now utterly ruined chances with Shampoo. For an amazon, to be taken advantage of by a male was utterly unforgivable. True, it had resulting in nothing more than a kiss, which is probably why Mousse still found himself among the living, but the result was nonetheless devastating. "I have to find some proof, or Shampoo will never believe me." As Mousse clenched his fist in defiance, he became aware of someone waiting up ahead.

"Mousse," the figured called out in greeting, making it clear who it was and causing Mousse to hang his head in despair.

"Hello Akane," Mousse weakly replied.

Akane huffed as if insulted by his tone then walked up to join him. "I told you she didn't want to talk to you. Besides, you don't need her. I mean, there are plenty of girls who would love to be with you."

Mousse looked up at Akane with a tired gaze. 'And now he's trying to foist Akane on me so he can be free to be with Shampoo... that bastard,' Mousse thought as he considered the best way to humor Akane while simultaneously not encouraging her new crush.

* * *

"I really don't know how that happened. I didn't even mean for Akane to fall in love with someone," Kasumi said with a puzzled look.

"Yeah, you got bit by one of the classic errors," Trista explained. "I'm guessing this Ranma already loved Akane, so he can't fall in love with her as he already is. But, that doesn't stop the Love Note from working. It just returned to its default, fall for the first compatible person they encounter."

"Okay, yes, but that-"

"I'm not finished. However, since you also wrote Akane's name, since the command with Ranma failed, her name started a new command, making her also fall for someone under the default rule."

"Oh," Kasumi said in realization. "Oh dear me. I never expected that."

"Yeah, it's kinda dangerous writing someone's name in there, even if they're intended to be the object of the love. If the command works, all is fine, but if it doesn't, it defaults and turns into a royal mess. So, who did the boy fall for?"

Kasumi bowed her head self-consciously. "I think he's in love with me."

"You?" Trista asked to confirm, puzzled. "Didn't seem too lovy-dovy to me."

"No, but Ranma is always shy when it comes to his feelings. I believe he tries to pretend he is totally disinterested. He has been doing that to me ever since that day, and he never did before."

Trista nodded several times. "Yep, sounds reasonable. Well, on the bright side, it could have been far worse... it's not worse is it?"

"Oh no, about then is when I started using people from television."

'Which is hardly better,' Trista thought, but made no mention of this. "Speaking of television, you know, you are free to do as you please and all, but just a little piece of advice: you really don't want to attract that kind of attention to yourself."

Kasumi waved off the love goddess's concern. "Oh, I don't think there is much chance of that..."

* * *

Far away, at roughly the same moment, a meeting of various police agencies from across the globe was underway. At the moment though, the room was full of much confusion.

"What is this meeting all about anyway?"

"Could it be about the recent moves of the De'Lilo family?"

"That hardly seems significant enough to call us all together."

Finally, an official stepped forward and moved to address those gathered from a central podium. "Gentlemen of the ICPO, I know this seems all very usual, but this special meeting has been called to address the current ongoing situation."

"What situation?" an American asked. "We haven't been briefed on this at all."

The man up front nodded. "This is understandable as the whole affair has only recently started to catch our attention, but surely you have noticed the large number of incidents with important individuals showing some rather... unusual behavior?"

"Unusual behavior?" a number of those gather echoed in some confusion.

Finally, one of the younger officers spoke up. "Do you mean... suddenly falling in love?"

"Exactly!" With the confirmation, the room entered an uproar of various arguments, most of a very confused nature. The man upfront let this go on for about a minute before noisily clearing his throat to bring attention back to him. "I know it all seems very trivial-"

"Trivial?! That doesn't even begin to describe this!" An official from France argued.

"But, you must admit it has caused a lot of issues of late," another official, this one from Japan. "Many national leaders, and political figures have been affected. It's thrown the governments of more than one nation into no small amount of disarray. And then there has been the economic uncertainty-"

"Yes, yes, yes, that may all be true," the French official argued back, "but it still is none of our concern. A rash of the love bug is not a criminal matter. Beyond that, who would possibly stand to gain, and how could they be orchestrating such a thing?"

The man at the podium nodded in agreement. "Those are very good questions to which we have no answers. It could well just be an outrageous coincidence, but the fact remains it is becoming a public nuisance on a global scale. We can't just let this go unchecked."

"And exactly how are we supposed to investigate such a thing? There is no clues, no evidence... it would be virtually impossible to track down a culprit or culprits at this time!"

"Then, there is no choice but to call on L," the man at the podium announced, much to the room's shock.

"Do... do you really think he would take such a case seriously? I mean, we're not even sure it is a crime."

Suddenly, a new figure appeared at the door, shadowed in a trench coat and large hat. "Gentlemen, L is already on it."

**End Chapter 2**

As I noted in chapter one, all input is welcome here. My ideas on this story are pretty sketchy right now meaning most my time is actually spent figuring out what to write rather than actually writing it, which is not the usual hold up for me.


	3. Chapter 3

Ranma ½

Love Note

Usual disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, any resemblance to Ranma ½ or Death Note is purely intentional, and the rest of that jazz.

For the purposes of this story, any text within single quotes like 'this' is considered a thought.

A few quick notes notes on Death note:

For those not familiar with it, don't worry. You're not really missing much as far as this story goes and any concept I need from Death note will be explained within this story. For those who are familiar with it, time is a bit of an issue here. Ranma takes place in late 80s, early 90s. Death Note takes place in 2000+. This makes for some rather serious differences in technology availability. Right now, I'm not committing to anything time wise just yet, but any which way I'm very likely to take liberties with the time line of one or both of the sources to mesh the two together. I'm not likely to involve the actual Death Note in the main of this story (being that Death Note is rather serious), but if I do, Death Note would be in the 'future' even if I take a liberty or two and make that later than was originally intended.

**Chapter 3**

* * *

"Are all the preparations in place?"

"Yes L," Watari replied to the laptop computer he was holding as he oversaw several workers setting up a studio. "L, although it is not usually my place to question your motives..."

"You are wondering what my true propose here is?" the computer asked, but did not wait for an answer. "Oh, it is quite true that this... Cupid, has been making quite the mess internationally, but truthfully that has little do with it. This is my hobby. That often gets forgotten, but I solve cases not primarily to catch criminals, but because they are difficult puzzles to solve. Whether it be a murder, or shoplifting, it matters little to me. Only whether the case is interesting, and this Cupid affair is _very_ interesting."

Watari nodded in understanding. "Yes, I see. But, that still leaves the matter of what we do when we do find Cupid."

The computer remained silent for a moment. "That all depends, I suppose, but let's not deal with that right now. We still have a ways to go before that becomes an issue."

* * *

It was early morning at Furinkan High and the various students were arriving for class. Akane Tendo and Ranma Saotome were two such students, arriving in their home room to find Ukyo with her head on her desk, using her arms as a makeshift pillow. As they passed by, Akane got a good look at the Okonomiyaki chef, and found she did not appear to have gotten much sleep at all.

"You look terrible," Akane commented as she took a seat.

"I feel terrible," Ukyo moaned out. "I can't get her out of my head."

"I can sympathize," Ranma said as he took his seat. "I still don't get what Kodachi suddenly sees in you."

"I wish I knew," Ukyo replied.

"Maybe it was Cupid," one of their female classmate suddenly suggested.

"Cupid?" the threesome all repeat in confusion.

"Yeah, haven't you heard?" another girl asked. "There has been a rash of people falling in love everywhere. Everybody is calling it the work of Cupid."

"Cupid, as in the baby with the bow and arrow?" Akane asked in doubt.

"Well, no one has actually seen him of course," the first girl answered. "It's just what they're calling him."

Tired, but with some of her vigor restored by anger, Ukyo sat up and glared at the two girls. "And what exactly does this Cupid have against me that he made Kodachi fall for me? We're both girls for pity sakes!"

The first girl shrugged. "You do have to admit, you do dress a lot like a guy most the time. Maybe it was a mistake."

"One hell of a mistake!" Ukyo growled out.

"Ah, that's just silly," Akane said after a moment. "I'm sure it is all just a big coincidence."

"Oh yeah, and what about you and Mousse? You've been trying to spend a awful lot of time with him lately," Ranma accused, initially causing Akane to cringe before going defensive.

"That's... nothing! It's none of your business, Ranma! And don't think I haven't noticed the way you're acting around Kasumi all of a sudden."

This time, it was Ranma's turn to cringe before he too took up a defensive approach. "You're imagining things!"

"Am I?" Akane counter accused. The two exchanged glares before both mutually huffing and looking away from each other. The others, particularly Ukyo, watched the momentary exchange with thoughtful looks.

* * *

A few hours later, Kasumi was finishing with the morning chores and preparing for what was becoming her regular daily routine, channel surfing for those love challenged people in need of a little help. To Trista, this is was all very reckless, particularly because Kasumi had no qualms about bringing the Love Note out in the open when her father and pseudo uncle were mere feet away playing Shougi. However, over all the days that Trista had so far watched, the two men had yet to show the slightest sign of suspicion in Kasumi's activity. However, Trista had quickly realized this was only obvious. This Kasumi had two big things going for her. First, she rarely attracted attention, and second she just exuded an aura of tranquility and innocence that would no doubt make anyone believe that any suspicions of her were merely the product of some out of control paranoia on their part.

Unfortunately, even Kasumi couldn't risk being caught openly talking to thin air, so Trista, at these times, was generally forced to amuse herself. This usually involved watching over the two men's shougi game, while occasionally messing with the pieces when they were distracted. Fortunately, this was quite common as the two tended to cheat a lot, which involved distracting the other. Little did they realize a third party was also taking advantage of those moments to get into the action. However, that was only amusing for so long.

"Bah, this is boring," Trista complained as she left the two men with Soun in a certain win position, and floated over to Kasumi to watch. Kasumi, however, did not react to this, and merely kept up with her activity.

"Ah-ha! You lose Saotome!" Soun proudly proclaimed.

"Wait, do over!" Genma begged.

"You already had five do overs," Soun replied. "No getting out of it this time. Besides, it's time to get to doing a little cleaning up."

As Genma pondered the game board, seeing no avenue to escape, he was force to concede. "Yes, I suppose so. Hey Kasumi, could you make us some tea?"

"Of course, Mr. Saotome," Kasumi replied with a smile and headed off to the kitchen to put on the kettle, with Trista following.

Looking back over her shoulder, Trista asked, " You do know you just left the Love Note out in the open, right?"

"Oh, you're such a worry-wort, Trista," Kasumi calmly replied as she fetched the kettle and began filling it.

"You of all people should know how dangerous that thing can be," Trista replied with a frown.

After finishing setting a tray with all the normal amenities, Kasumi headed back to the common room to wait for the kettle to whistle. Her father and Genma were already off in the yard, dealing with various minor chores, so Kasumi went about her task without fear of being overheard. "I think you're worrying over nothing. Sure, it has it's slight draw backs, but all in all the Love Note seems to be generally a good thing."

"Yeah, is that so? I'm sure that guy who's girlfriend now hates him would think different."

Kasumi shook her head. "Really, that was for the best. You said it yourself, they're incompatible. Sure, it was a bit of a surprise, but now we know that and can move on. After all my testing I think I just might be ready to make some improvements."

"Testing?"

Kasumi nodded. "Yes. Like, did you know that if you try to make two people fall in love that don't know each other, it fails and defaults?"

"Well, no, but I generally don't attempt that," Trista was forced to concede and decided to lay down next to Kasumi.

"However, if you use the third rule where you can specify the conditions, if you have them meet, or learn of the other person, it does work, even if they didn't originally know each other."

Trista looked up thoughtfully. "You know, I always wondered why they had that third rule. Seemed kinda pointless to me. Guess that's why it's there."

"Yes, the third rule is quite powerful really. You can do so much-" Kasumi started to explain just as the television program she was watching was suddenly cut off with static.

"We interrupt your programming to bring you an important message from the ICPO," an announcer said as the picture changed to display what looked like a conference podium in a non-nondescript room. Behind the podium stood an American woman in a business outfit, and to her right and behind stood a man likewise dressed, both looking quite serious. "This is being broadcast over the whole world. Japanese is translation is provided by translator Tora Hiso."

"What's this?" Kasumi wondered aloud as Trista sat up to take notice as well.

After clearing her throat, the woman spoke. "My name is Linda Marsel, widely known as 'L'. And this is my associate, Wallace Vance, better known simply as 'Watari'."

* * *

Off at one of the local police headquarters, those gathered watched this same program in interest and shock.

"L is a woman?!" one of the officers couldn't help but exclaim.

"We've never actually seen him, or heard his real voice, so I suppose it is possible. But, what's she up to showing herself like this so publicly?" another commented.

"She must be taking this case very seriously to appear out in the open like this," a third officer suggested.

* * *

Off at Furikan high school, the event was also gathering attention as a crowd was gathered around one of the student's locker, one who happened to have a portable television. Taking note of this as they passed during the lunch break, Ranma and Akane walked over to see.

"What happening?" Akane asked as she tried to get a look through the crowd.

"Some woman working for the police I think is on TV. It's a world wide broadcast. Must be important," one of the students gathered explained, peaking both Akane and Ranma's interest.

* * *

"I am here today to address the recent surge in strange behavior of public figures. Many have dubbed this the acts of one 'Cupid'," Linda continued on as Kasumi and Trista watched.

"Ooo, I think she's talking about you," Trista said and Kasumi was now fixated on the television.

Looking suddenly very serious, the woman gripped the podium and spoke forcefully. "Regardless of the cause, the disruptive behavior of those affected is becoming a wide spread public nuisance. This will not be tolerated!"

"Won't be tolerated?" Kasumi echoed in confusion.

"Individuals involved will be treated like any other deviant, and protests to such things as 'love' will no longer be accepted as an excuse for these actions," the woman continued on, saying love with such disdain that it caused even Kasumi's normally cheerful face to frown.

Trista was not so reserved, and apparently found the insinuation quite insulting. "Hey, who does this woman think she is?!" she yelled at the television. "Making out like love is some kind of evil sin!"

"She seems like the kind of person who hasn't experienced much love in her life... hmm.." Kasumi replied before looking thoughtful and grabbing up the Love Note. Trista glanced back to see this and, for probably the first time since seeing Kasumi use the note, smiled and rushed over behind her.

"Use the guy that's with her, and make sure to make it mutual," Trista encouraged.

"Yes, yes, I know," Kasumi responded as wrote the two names. As she did the whistle of the kettle in the kitchen began to blow.

* * *

Back at Furinkan, the reaction from many of the students wasn't much better.

"What a stick in the mud she is!" one girl complained. "All Cupid is doing is making people happy, and she wants to toss them in jail for it?! That's outrageous!"

By this time, Ukyo had joined them, frowning. "I'm all for locking Kodachi up," she commented idly, gaining several unexpected dirty looks. "But, it does seem a little harsh in general," she quickly amended.

"Shh," another girl said. "I can't hear."

"...As for Cupid himself, if such a person or persons does in fact exist, we will be moving to arrest him and... and... umm..." The woman quickly became nervous and glanced behind her at the man. Likewise, his stoic appearance also quickly changed to a rather confused and nervous one.

"What's going on?" Akane asked in puzzlement.

"Alright! Cupid got them!" several of the girls cheered. Several more seconds passed before the transmission suddenly went to static, causing several more cheers from those gathered. However, the static only lasted a moment before it was replaced with a white background with a single giant scripted letter L. This was puzzling enough to everyone to quiet them all in time to hear an electronically distorted voice begin to speak.

"Unbelievable!" the voice said. "I did this on the off chance that you would exercise your power... and now I see you can make people fall in love without even being present. So, it is true after all. To be honest I had my doubts, but the evidence is now clear."

"Now what?" Ukyo puzzled openly only to be quickly quieted by the others.

"Cupid, listen to me, the people you made fall in love were in fact actors and volunteers. I arranged for this whole program to be staged for your benefit. If they felt any sudden attraction or love for each other they were instructed to press hidden panic buttons, which both did almost simultaneously. That could perhaps happen to one, but both at the same time... no, there is no coincidence here. This is definitely your work, Cupid.

"But, of course, I'm being rude not introducing myself. I am L, the real L. And, I am the one who will stop you. Of course, you could try your power on me, so please do! Come on now, I don't care. Pick anyone you like for me. Come on, do it!" Almost a minute passed as L continue to call for Cupid to act, but nothing seemed to happen. Nonetheless, all those watching were now riveted to the screen. "What's wrong, can't do it? I don't feel any different... no, I don't think you can affect me. Very interesting. That's a very helpful hint. Let me tell you something in return. Although the program was said to be aired world wide, in fact it is only airing in the Kanto region of Japan. I was planning to repeat this for other regions but that has proven unnecessary. I now know you are in Kanto."

"The reason I chose Kanto is quite simple. Firstly, it is the most populous region in Japan and although your powers have been felt world wide, most your victims have been Japanese celebrities and public figures, but of course you didn't seem to be hiding this. However, a bit of fall out, if you will, from your power is that requests for marriage licenses, facilities and other related matters tend to increase greatly. This has been seen most evident in Tokyo itself. Now that I have confirmed you are indeed in this region, I can further isolate your location. Of course, you could have done this deliberately to attempt to mislead, but my little play seems to have proven that is not that case. To be perfectly honest, this has turned out better than I anticipated.

"Well, Cupid, I will figure out how you use your power and I look forward to the day I can catch you. I'm sure we will be speaking again." With those final words, the screen turned back to static momentarily before resuming normal programming.

"Wow," is all Akane could think to say, breaking the silence among the students.

* * *

"Father, Mr. Saotome, I have your tea!" Kasumi called out as she re-entered the common room carrying a tray with several cups and related apparel. She cast a quick glance to the television to see the special announcement was over. "Oh bother, I missed the whole thing... Oh well, I hope they are happy together."

* * *

**End Chapter 3**

As I noted in chapter one, all input is welcome here. My ideas on this story are pretty sketchy right now meaning most my time is actually spent figuring out what to write rather than actually writing it, which is not the usual hold up for me.

Quick geographic note. Since the original death note program only had L limit to Kanto, not specific cities for the broadcast, I chose that here too. It may be untrue but I suspect it would be impractical to limit a broadcast any further probably due to transmission strength.


	4. Chapter 4

Ranma ½

Love Note

Usual disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, any resemblance to Ranma ½ or Death Note is purely intentional, and the rest of that jazz.

For the purposes of this story, any text within single quotes like 'this' is considered a thought.

A few quick notes notes on Death note:

For those not familiar with it, don't worry. You're not really missing much as far as this story goes and any concept I need from Death note will be explained within this story. For those who are familiar with it, time is a bit of an issue here. Ranma takes place in late 80s, early 90s. Death Note takes place in 2000+. This makes for some rather serious differences in technology availability. Right now, I'm not committing to anything time wise just yet, but any which way I'm very likely to take liberties with the time line of one or both of the sources to mesh the two together. I'm not likely to involve the actual Death Note in the main of this story (being that Death Note is rather serious), but if I do, Death Note would be in the 'future' even if I take a liberty or two and make that later than was originally intended.

A few more notes for some of the reviews:

Apparently it wasn't perfectly clear, but the love note only makes a 1 way love at a time. So if someone were to write: Tatewaki Kuno Ukyo Kuonji, Kuno would fall for Ukyo, but Ukyo's feelings for him would be unchanged. To make it mutual you have the echo the names in reverse, so Takewaki Kuno Ukyo Kuonji, Ukyo Kuonji Tatewaki Kuno would result in a 2 way love (and no, so far neither Ukyo nor Kuno have not been afflicted yet).

Just to be clear on the writings so far as far as the Ranma cast goes, they were:

Shan Pu - Msu Tsu (making Shampoo fall for Mousse briefly)

Kodachi Kuno (making her fall for the first compatible person, who happened to be Ukyo, much to the latter's regret)

Ranma Saotome - Akane Tendo (which failed because Ranma already is in love with Akane, so he ended up falling for Kasumi, and since Akane's name was also written and the original command failed, she fell for Mousse, both just by chance of who they were near at the time).

A few quick question answers:

**How would actors' supposed love interest changing receive any more interest than tabloids? **

-By itself, it probably wouldn't attract much interest. But there was for one a huge surge in these, and very sudden (as chapter 3 showed happens when the power activates), and also as mentioned political figures and others were also affected. Even all that has the police dubious on the issue (as I've tried to shown), but it's enough of a nuisance that they want it stopped.

**One would have to be an idiot to say this, since "L" doesn't know Kasumi's exact location and saying "we're pretty sure you're around here" is giving her the perfect chance to escape before they can isolate her. Yes, I know Kasumi's not going to flee across the world, but they don't. **

-You know, that is exactly the same issue in death note (and in death note's case, he had a far greater risk hanging over him). I would suppose that L considers fleeing the equivalent of the state (as Kanto is the biggest population region in Japan) to be only a minor risk at the moment. Of course, it wouldn't be the first piece of questionable logic in death note's story, but hey.

BTW, thanks for the quick error checking there Ganheim.

**Chapter 4**

* * *

It had been a full week since L's broadcast, but the impact of such was not quite what was expected by the freelance detective. As expected, and risked by him, by confronting Cupid, he had also given credibility and a public presence to the person. It took only a quick scan through the television channels to see at least two separate programs discussing the topic. Public opinion was largely divided between praise, indifference, or condemnation of Cupid. That all didn't interest L though. It had been a calculated risk to prove Cupid's existence while hopefully pushing Cupid into a bad move.

That is where the unexpected happened. As L looked over his computer and the data coming in, he couldn't help but frown. Grabbing a nearby mic, he activated it and spoke. "Is this all of the recent events, Watari?"

"Yes L," came the response from the computer.

"Very well," he replied, shutting off the mic. "What are you up to, Cupid?" he asked no one but himself as he stood up and walked to a nearby window to look out onto the city below. "Not even the slightest change in pattern. Besides the public reaction it is almost as if I didn't make the broadcast at all. Are you trying to play it cool? Perhaps attempting to fool me into thinking it is all coincidence?" L thought on this for nearly a minute before Watari again spoke through the computer.

"The others are gathered L."

Nodding, L returned to his computer and turned on the mic, activating a one way video feed at the same time so he could see a meeting room with many Japanese detectives gathered. "Very well. What have you found?"

Inside the meeting room, one officer rose and cleared his throat before addressing the computer Watari was attending which for the police officers displayed only the scripted letter L. "As of this date we've received several thousand inquiries to the Cupid situation. Most have been simple questions regarding the case. However, we have had over 500 that claim to have been affected by Cupid. We're still looking into those though. We've also had 35 calls from people claiming to be Cupid. We've investigated each, and each seems to be a false claim, but we have noted the identities of all who did make this claim.

"Additionally, as instructed, we have been monitoring broadcasts, and interviewing various likely victims in the media, with particular emphasis on the timing of the events. There are nearly no incidents reported to have occurred between the hours of 11pm and 6am, a large number occurring between 9am and 4pm, and a scatter in the rest of the hours. The exception to this seems to be on holidays where only a scatter is shown all day, with the same absence in the nighttime hours," the officer concluded, placing his folder on his desk.

As that officer sat, another, sitting at the front, spoke. "It should be noted, L, that we're having great difficulty discerning naturally occurring incidents, false reports, and Cupid's activity."

"Yes, director, I understand, but please, do your best," L responded in his usual computerized voice. "As to the timing, this suggests that our Cupid is likely a house-wife or other stay at home type. She might have a husband who works during the hours with most concentration, or perhaps children at school, or both. "

"But how do you know this, particularly that Cupid is a woman?" one of the detectives asked.

"I don't. I'm playing the odds. The scatter of events tells us that Cupid has access to television at nearly all hours and days, suggesting she is at home rather than at some place of work. The concentration in the morning and afternoon suggests naturally that this access is at its greatest during this period. If Cupid is at home, the only elements that would limit her access to television is the presence of others. Their absence would give her the greatest freedom to work. Statistically, a household is more likely to have a male working and the female at home at this time. Beyond that, my analysis of the television programs involved, and incidents in general also suggests that Cupid is female.

"Do understand, this is not yet certain, and if you find evidence to the contrary it is still valuable. But for now, we shall proceed on this assumption," L concluded to the officers' satisfaction. "Now, regarding the claims of affects from the public. Pay particular attention to these. I have no doubt that many will be false, but many are likely to be true as well. We are looking for likely individuals affected who did not appear in the media. It is quite possible, even probable that Cupid may have used her power first on those she knew in her everyday life. We may find a pattern in that."

"Of course," the director agreed.

"As well, I wish you to look back at the media figures affected, or rather look back at those not affected."

"Why?" another officer asked.

"Cupid was unable to affect me. I wish to discover why. The obvious answer is that she could not learn my identity and that is necessary, but what part of my identity is needed? In particular, concentrate on looking at those media personalities using stage names, heavy make up, or who simply don't actually show themselves on screen. See if any of these show an unusual absence of individuals affected. That is all." With that, the computer screen went blank, leaving the officers discussing this amongst themselves.

* * *

Oblivious to all the attention she was getting from the police, Kasumi was happily humming to herself as she prepared dinner in the kitchen, Trista, as usual, at her side. After giving Kasumi a persistent puppy dog expression for at least five minutes, Kasumi finally took a quick break to grab the love goddess a couple cookies.

"You sure do like those," she commented as Trista seemed to almost inhale the treats. The goddess only nodded in response. "Trista, I meant to ask for a while now, but how do you figure out if two people are compatible or not?" Kasumi asked as she returned to her preparations. "It has proven really troublesome for me."

"I can see it," Trista responded easily.

"See it?" Kasumi asked in confusion.

"Didn't I explain this?" Trista asked, but Kasumi looked back and shook her head. "Oh, well, it's part of the whole eye deal. Guess I should go over that too. You see, we Love Goddesses aren't like you humans. You just use the note to make people fall in love. We Love Goddesses get a bonus out of the deal. For every moment that a person stays in love under our influence, we get that same moment more youth. So, if a person stays in love for a year, I would get an extra year of youth. Pretty simple really, and unlike certain other gods I could mention we aren't stealing anything from the people we make fall in love. Nope... Oh, and we don't need to ask people their names and stuff, we just see it. Like right now, when I'm looking at you I can see your name plain as day. As well, if I envision someone else, I can see the thread of fate connecting you with that person so I get a decent idea of how much time I'd get out of the deal."

"Thread of fate?" Kasumi echoed.

"Yeah. You know about the red string of fate, right?"

"Oh yes," Kasumi said with a smile. "It's supposed to join people who are to be soul mates and get married... ah, I see now."

"Exactly, although for us there are more than just red ones. Red is the color of true love. The closer to red the line is, the stronger the compatibility. The further away, the worse the compatibility. Cyan is basically as bad as it gets. Blue and green are sorta in the middle, and we already talked about red. Black and white are special reserved colors."

"For?" Kasumi asked curiously.

"White is for someone who is already in love with the person you're envisioning. Black... I never seen a black honestly, so I don't really know what it means. Something bad I assume since I do remember that we're supposed to avoid it."

"I see."

"Oh yeah. I can offer to give you the love goddess eyes," Trista added, to which Kasumi looked horrified. "Not really, just wiggle my fingers and you can see like I can. No actually eyeballs involved," she quickly amended.

"Oh, thank goodness," Kasumi replied with a sigh of relief. "That sounds very useful."

"Yeah, but there is a catch. You see I have to, sorta, take half of your self control, or taken another way, double your... sex drive," Trista explained a bit hesitantly.

"Double my sex drive..." Kasumi repeated. "That doesn't sound so good."

"It can be fun," Trista suggested to which Kasumi looked skeptical. "Yeah, you're right, it kinda sucks. But, the offer remains at any time. It only takes me like a second to do it, so don't be afraid to ask. Oh, I should also warn you if you give up the note, you lose the eyes too, but you don't get back your control."

"Too?" Kasumi echoed in confusion. "What else do I lose?"

"Didn't I..." Trista started to say, but noticing Kasumi confused expression knew the answer. "Guess not, well, if you give up the note you lose all your memories of it. Kinda like selective amnesia. If you regain possession your memories return, or if you simply touch the note again, but if it's not yours, you only regain the memories while touching it. In any case, your memories may come back, but not the eyes and you don't get your self control back either. You give up the note, you give up the eyes and will have to trade for them again, and believe me, you don't want to make that bargain twice."

Kasumi smiled, but with a slightly strained look. "Yes. I don't think I'll be doing that. It sounds a bit... extreme. But, I suppose that means Ranma isn't my true love then since you would have used your note to make me-"

"Actually, it doesn't," Trista interrupted to say. "Compatibility is not fixed. That is to say, it changes over time until the moment you fall in love. Today Ranma may not be your true love, but tomorrow, given a change in circumstances he may well be. However, that time can also pass. It only becomes committed, if you will, when you fall in love. Up till then it is all just a matter of the variables."

"I see," Kasumi said with a nod of understanding. "I wonder... how much does compatibility fluctuate? I mean, could perhaps someone who was very incompatible become compatible?"

"You're thinking about that Chinese girl again, aren't you?" Trista asked suspiciously, to which Kasumi only smiled innocently. Sighing, Trista thought aloud. "I really haven't seen big swings in compatibility. It can happen in theory, I suppose, but usually it is only smaller changes. Besides, I should warn you, after you use the note once on a couple, once they fall out of love, their compatibility typically goes right into the gutter no matter how strong it was before. You'd be lucky to get a few minutes out of them now."

"Oh well, it was a thought," Kasumi remarked with a bit of disappointment that was quickly forgotten. Brightening, Kasumi smiled at Trista. "I don't suppose you-"

"No!" Trista quickly answered. "I told you before, I'm not supposed to help you. It's against the rules and I've been bending those rules enough as is. You want the benefits of the eyes, you got to trade for them. No getting around that."

Kasumi sadly nodded just as the door to the front of the house could be heard opening followed by someone walking up the hall. Kasumi decided it was time to end the conversation, although as usually, Trista little cared about that.

"Speaking of loves and compatibilities, you know I'm suppose to find you a true love. How am I suppose to do that if you stay cooped up here most the time. You got to get out more so I can get some more potentials to work with," Trista complained as Nabiki entered the kitchen.

"Hello Nabiki," Kasumi greeted, ignoring Trista.

"Hey Kasumi," Nabiki replied as she opened the fridge to retrieve a drink.

"How was school today?"

"Oh the usual. Kuno still is convinced that Ranma is Cupid and giving him a ton of grief over it."

"Oh?" Kasumi remarked. "Why would he think that?"

Nabiki shrugged as she drank back a can of pop. "Who knows how Kuno-baby's mind works. All I can guess is he sees Ranma has multiple girlfriends and that's all the excuse he needs. Mousse seems to be thinking that too. Of course, neither of them seem to realize that Ranma doesn't want those girlfriends..."

"Yes," Kasumi agreed.

"And Ukyo, she has her bets on Shampoo."

"Shampoo? Why her?"

Nabiki looked at Kasumi skeptically, but then explained. "You know, she does kind of have a history with love magics. Beyond that, it seems awfully convenient that all her chief rivals suddenly find themselves with new love interests, not to mention she seems to be the only one to overcome a sudden love interest of her own."

"Well, it is suspicious, I agree, but I'm sure Shampoo isn't involved," Kasumi replied.

Nabiki nodded. "Oh, probably not. It's not her style, and why not go directly after Ranma? Of course, Shampoo seems to be convinced it is Mousse, which is about as logical as all the other possibilities. It's just a big mess."

"Oh dear," Kasumi said with a slightly worried look. "I hope no one gets in trouble over this."

Nabiki waved this off. "It's just everybody doing their usual things, just with a new excuse. If it wasn't Cupid, it would be something else. Still, seems everybody is out to find out who Cupid is."

"Oh? I suppose it is only natural that everyone would be curious," Kasumi replied as she finished up with dinner preparations.

"Yeah..." Nabiki replied as she finished her drink and headed to the door, but then stopped. "I don't see you going out much lately, sis. You usually at least go see Tofu once a week or so."

Kasumi nodded. "I did go to see him the other day, but he had a sudden emergency out of town apparently. And the time before that he was ill. Just bad luck I suppose," Kasumi explained with a slightly sad tone but quickly cheered up. "Why?"

"Oh, no particular reason. Just thinking you've been spending an awfully lot of time at home lately. You should get out more," Nabiki commented.

"See, even she thinks so," Trista added.

"I don't really have a lot of time-"

"Oh yes you do," Nabiki replied quickly. "You know, if you don't want to go out alone, I'm sure Ranma would go along." Kasumi started at the suggestion, causing Nabiki to grin. "Come on Kasumi, Akane knows, I know and you know he got hit by Cupid."

"How did...?" Kasumi started to asked, but quickly realized it was probably obvious. "I'm sure that wasn't Cupid's intention. Besides, it would be very inappropriate for me and him to go out together. He's engaged to Akane."

"Technically he's engaged to a Tendo. Nothing says we can't change the arrangement. It's not exactly like he and Akane get along as is and I'm sure you're just as aware as I am about her new interest," Nabiki argued.

"Listen to this girl, she knows her stuff," Trista agreed, but only gained a quick frown from Kasumi in response.

With a sudden shrug of indifference, Nabiki turned once more to leave. "Just a suggestion. I mean, you stick around here so much and people might start thinking it's odd. With all the suspicion in the air, some fool might get the idea you're Cupid."

"Me?!" Kasumi said with a start. "That's silly," she said, trying to cover of her nervousness, but Nabiki had already left. Instead Trista took her place and gave her a disapproving look. "Maybe... maybe I should go out a bit more often," she conceded at last.

* * *

Cologne frowned in frustration and deep thought as she closed the last of her ancient tomes. 'Blast, it's not here,' she thought. 'I know I've seen a reference to this kind of phenomena before...' she pondered as she looked out into the Nekohanten's dining room in consideration where Shampoo was closing up for the night.

Since kicking Mousse to the street, Shampoo had been in a rather mixed mood. Her anger with the boy was all too obvious. Merely mention his name and something would be broken in mere seconds by the young Amazon. However, at the same time, she also seemed to be very introspective of late. Some might speculate that this was due to not having Mousse about anymore, but Cologne did not think that was the case. Oh, Shampoo was likely missing the company. Even as annoying as the male Amazon could be to her, he was someone from home in a foreign land. Without him abouts, the sting of loneliness probably was that much greater. However, Shampoo's usual way of compensating for Mousse not being abouts pestering her was to thrust more attention onto Ranma. Such was not the case this time. In fact, she seemed to have done almost the opposite.

'Perhaps being on the other side of emotional magic has left a bad taste in her mouth for it,' Cologne thought with a slight smile. If that was the case, it probably would do her some good. Cologne never discouraged Shampoo from using such methods herself on her desired husband, but not for lack of disapproval. No, it simply wasn't Cologne place to dictate Shampoo's methods. Ultimately, it was still Shampoo's responsibility to get Ranma to agree to this marriage. Cologne could do little more than assist now and then after realizing her would be son-in-law was very resistant to coercion.

'Still, current events are troubling. The Cupid has already tried his power once on Shampoo. He may try again, and I'm not liking the odds that the next chosen male will be son-in-law. I have to figure out what is going on before this gets out of hand,' the elder thought. 'I don't think I have any choice in the matter...' "Shampoo!"

"Yes, great grand mother?" Shampoo asked, looking over.

"We're closing up the restaurant for a while. I have to go back to China to investigate some things."

"Now?!" Shampoo responded in shock.

"Yes, now," Cologne replied with a scolding look. "This is serious and can't be left any longer. You'll have to stay here though," she explained, but Shampoo seemed only to slump at hearing this. "I should be back in week or so."

"...Okay," Shampoo replied, obviously not pleased about being left alone.

"One piece of caution. Whatever this Cupid is using, it at least seems to leave you in control. Keep that in mind, and don't trust any sudden feeling you may have," Cologne said and gained a nod from Shampoo. "Good, I have to make some arrangements."

* * *

**End Chapter 4**

As I noted in chapter one, all input is welcome here. My ideas on this story are pretty sketchy right now meaning most my time is actually spent figuring out what to write rather than actually writing it, which is not the usual hold up for me.


	5. Chapter 5

Ranma ½

Love Note

Usual disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, any resemblance to Ranma ½ or Death Note is purely intentional, and the rest of that jazz.

For the purposes of this story, any text within single quotes like 'this' is considered a thought.

**Chapter 5**

* * *

Ranma, fresh from a bath used to get back to his male form, was heading upstairs to his room when he found Kasumi at the front door, putting on her shoes. Being that is was past sundown, and that Kasumi was also dressed rather formally, at least for her, Ranma found this rather curious. "Where you off to?" he asked.

Finishing with her shoes, Kasumi stood up and straightened her dress and smiled. "I'm just going out to a movie. I've been meaning to go see this one for a while now."

"Oh... uh... have a good time then," Ranma replied.

"I will," she replied and headed out.

Feeling the sudden urge to help out, Ranma opened the door for her, to which she gratefully smiled for. Involuntarily, Ranma found himself watching after her as she left, only finally managing to pry his eyes away as she turned onto the street and out of sight.

"Hey Saotome, close the door already! Heating this place isn't free you know," Nabiki complained from atop the stairs, forcing Ranma out of his stupor to do as instructed. Shaking her head, Nabiki came down to meet Ranma at the bottom. "Why don't you just go with her?"

"What?" Ranma exclaimed defensively.

"Ranma, you're not fooling anybody, not even Kasumi. We all know Cupid got to you," Nabiki pointed out with a smug grin.

"That's..." Ranma initially started to say, but seeing Nabiki's certainty knew that any denials would be useless. "And exactly why should I go along with it? Just because some weirdo has some power to make people fall in love doesn't mean I should just accept it!"

Nabiki shrugged. "No, I suppose not," she conceded and turned down the hall. "But I was just thinking, it being so late and all, and Kasumi isn't exactly as tough as Akane, that she might appreciate the escort. I mean, not that much happens around here, but I have seen some shifty guys out late at night, and you never know what they might be up to..."

"Kasumi! Wait for me!" Ranma called out from the corner of the road, fumbling with his shoes as he attempted to put them on while running. Nabiki looked over her shoulder at the departing boy with a grin.

"That was too easy," she said quietly as she closed the door once more, and changed course to go back upstairs.

* * *

Over at Ucchan's, Ukyo finished with the last of the evening's customers and closed up shop with a deep sigh of relief. The past several days had been surprisingly productive at her restaurant thanks to the new help, namely Mousse.

Shortly after being kicked to the curb by Shampoo, Akane had taken it upon herself to find Mousse some temporary residence and given his experience in the restaurant business, Ukyo had found herself on the short list. She had been very reluctant to take the Amazon in, but after much pleading from Akane, probably influenced by her new found feelings for the boy, Ukyo had agreed on a temporary basis. So far, she had little to regret about the decision. Mousse was surprisingly obedient and competent at his work. The only minor annoyance was his occasional fits of self pity over Shampoo's rejection, or his bouts of blind anger towards Ranma, both of which were easily and quickly corrected with a good swift battle spatula over the head. Best yet, he was a decent bodyguard against Kodachi.

Having Mousse abouts had also given Ukyo the opportunity to discretely interrogate him in regards to Shampoo. Since the whole Cupid confrontation on the television, Ukyo had been convinced Shampoo was somehow involved. Too many things about the incidents were conveniently in her favor for Ukyo to think otherwise. However, as time went on, her confidence in that had diminished, and speaking to Mousse on the topic had not helped. Despite all her suggestions to the contrary, Mousse was adamant that Shampoo had been genuinely in love with him for that brief period, and it had been no act. Add to that Ranma's new interest in Kasumi and Ukyo's theory was leaking from two gaping holes.

'It still could be her,' Ukyo thought. 'Whatever power she has might not be working properly on Ranma... but why go after so many others too? It's totally not her normal style. She's very blunt and simple with her plans. This is convoluted and makes no sense for anyone.' Displeased that her logic was failing, Ukyo shelved the thought for a moment and turned to Mousse. "I'm heading upstairs. You okay to finish up, sugar?"

"I'm fine," he replied, gaining a nod from Ukyo. However, just as she reached the stairs, he called out after her. "Ukyo, do you think Shampoo will forgive me if we find the real Cupid?"

Ukyo paused at the bottom of the stairs and sighed. "Frankly, sugar, I think you could do better than Shampoo. But, if we do find Cupid, she just might, but I wouldn't hold your breath," she answered honestly, causing the Amazon male to slump slightly. "Look on the bright side, Akane seems to like you."

"I can't go out with Akane!" Mousse protested. "She is the only thing keeping Ranma away from Shampoo!"

Ukyo glared at Mousse in response. "And just what am I?"

"Er..." Mousse responded nervously, realizing his unintended slip but Ukyo waved him off before he could try and correct himself.

"Doesn't matter anyway. If your chances with Shampoo are nil, then keeping her away from Ranma is pointless, now isn't it?"

"I... I guess so," Mousse conceded, but then quickly countered, "but I'm not giving up on Shampoo that easily."

"Your choice sugar," Ukyo said with a shrug, thus ending the conversation and headed upstairs. There she broke out her school books to work on some pressing homework, and turned on the television for some mild entertainment on the side. Channel surfing in between math problems, she came to a discussion program and stopped to watch.

"...Thus far there has been no response from the Cupid task force to our inquiries. We can only assume, so far, that the task force has not made any major progress on the investigation," one commentator said.

"Or they could simply be keeping things quiet," another commentator argued. "In all criminal investigations, it is customary to keep the details of the investigation under wraps."

"Still, with all the speculation currently going on, I think it would be wise for the investigative team to at least make a public statement and..." the first commentator argued back as Ukyo turned back to her homework. Several minutes past as the program went on, with Ukyo only paying it slight attention. However, as the program turned to an open phone discussion, her attention returned. People calling in alternated between either singing Cupid's praises or calling for his public flogging. As these set of calls ended, the announcer said, "please, if you have any comments, give as a call at the number below. Do you think Cupid is a criminal or a saint? Have you been personally affected by Cupid? We're accepting all calls on the topic."

As Ukyo watched the screen, her eyes couldn't help but wander to the phone at her bedside. She had several times considered calling the police tip line, but had dismissed it. She was still far from certain who Cupid was, and even if it was Shampoo, somehow it seemed wrong to get the police involved. 'Of course, this isn't the police, and it has been bugging me a lot...' she thought as she continued to eye the phone.

* * *

Kasumi looked at Ranma as he walked along side her as they neared the local movie complex. As was his usual pattern, Ranma was making every effort to seem as distant and uninterested as possible. "You really didn't need to come along, Ranma. I'm sure I'll be fine."

"It's not a problem," Ranma replied, looking off at the sky.

"He's a shy one alright," Trista remarked as she floated behind the couple. "You wouldn't think he'd be so popular with the ladies with that kinda attitude."

Kasumi cast the love goddess a quick look then returned to looking at Ranma. "How are things going with Akane?" she asked. Ranma's only reaction was to look further away. "I see. I'm sure you understand that her interest in Mousse is just the result of Cupid's power. I'm sure it will wear off."

"Will it?" Ranma asked rhetorically. "So far, the only person who has got out from the effect is Shampoo, and I'm not so convinced she actually did. Maybe Ukyo's right and she just acted like that to throw off suspicion."

"I really don't think so," Kasumi replied.

Finally, Ranma hung his head and nodded. "Yeah, but still, even if she did get rid of it legit, no one else has yet. I mean... what if I feel... I mean, if Akane feels-"

"Ranma, I know what happened," Kasumi interjected, causing the boy to start and look at her nervously. She quickly calmed him with a smile. "Don't worry, I understand, and I'm sure it won't last forever."

Behind them, Trista nodded. "Yep, not forever, but for a couple decades or so... who knows." Kasumi quickly cast Trista a brief unamused look, to which Trista merely shrugged. "What, it's the truth. Besides, he can't hear me."

"You see something?" Ranma suddenly asked, startling Kasumi.

"Oh, nono," Kasumi quickly answered as she returned to looking ahead. "Looks like we're here," she said to change the subject. After buying their tickets, and a quick stop at the concession stand, the pair sat down in their seat within the theater and waited for the movie to begin. In a rather disconcerting display, Trista sat on the back of the chair next to Kasumi, freely kicking her feet through the person sitting in the actual chair with a complete lack of concern.

After watching this nervously for a few moments, Ranma spoke up, grabbing Kasumi's attention. "How long do you think this Cupid has been... you know, doing his thing?"

"Hmh?" Kasumi replied in confusion.

"I mean, we know he's being doing a lot lately, but what if he's been doing this for a long while now?"

"Oh, I doubt that," Kasumi responded, but Ranma seemed dissatisfied.

Frowning, Ranma looked off to the ceiling. "I'm not so sure. I mean, just think back to when I beat Shampoo. I mean, she fell in love with me just like that. Maybe that was Cupid's doing."

"I don't think so. That was simply because of the Amazon law."

"A law can't make you just fall in love, and besides she's not the only one. Kodachi was basically the same thing, and even Ukyo... well, I guess Ukyo liked me from when we were kids, but she really did a quick 180. Yeah, but you're probably right," Ranma replied to which Kasumi only smiled.

'Of course, I can't tell him I'm Cupid and I know I didn't do anything, but I suppose he is just wondering about Akane in a roundabout way,' she thought then once more noticed Trista next to her, who was now carefully sneaking popcorn out of a nearby moviegoer's bag. Unable to speak up, Kasumi merely sighed and shook her head, when a thought hit her. 'That's right, I might not have done it, but nothing says a Love Goddess didn't,' she realized. 'Trista hasn't mentioned anything like that, but she is forgetful. Come to think of it, if Trista was the one to do it, that would explain a lot.

'Still, in the end does it really matter?' Kasumi wondered. 'Love is love after all. The source of it little matters... but what does that mean about Ranma's feelings for me?' Kasumi thought, giving Ranma an unnoticed glance. 'Trista is right, I really have no idea how long Ranma will be in love with me, or how long any of the others will be affected either. It could easily be years. Perhaps...' Kasumi thought hesitantly, but quickly shook her head, just as the theater lights started to dim, signaling the start of the film. 'Now I really am being silly. Then again, I've always thought one day it would be Dr. Tofu... but now... hmmm...' Kasumi cast another glance at Ranma in consideration before the movie diverted her attention away from such matters.

* * *

Inside L's hotel room, several televisions were set up displaying various channels, all of which were covering various Cupid related programs. L paid them little mind, instead intent on his computer as he examined the latest data. 'So, Cupid, you haven't affected nearly any actor with a stage name, and almost no one who hasn't appeared on screen. A name and a face... interesting limitation,' he thought. 'That will come in handy as we get closer to you.'

Relaxing slightly, L turned his attention back to the TVs. Most were showing the usual talk shows and news reports. They were nothing particularly interesting or helpful, but they demanded watching nonetheless on the off chance something did happen. He was just about to return to his computer when a young lady's description of events caught his attention.

"...and now he's in love with her sister, who he's never had any interest in up till now," the caller said.

"Very interesting. And you say this all happened within a week?" the interviewer asked.

"Yes. I'm certain it's Cupid's doing. It's the only explanation."

"It certainly sounds that way. You wouldn't be willing to name a few names for us, would you?"

"Uh... look, I really don't want to get anyone in trouble. I have my suspicious about who Cupid might be, but even I'm not sure anymore."

"Very well, I won't press you any further on the topic. Thank you for the call..."

L frowned in thought as he considered. It was one call, like hundreds of others he had listened to, but something about it was particularly grabbing. L quickly grabbed his mic and turned it on. "Watari, get me the phone records from the call in show on channel 17 airing right now."

"Yes L. Did something happen?"

L considered a moment. "Perhaps nothing, perhaps something very important," he replied.

* * *

Back at the Tendo dojo, the door to Kasumi's room opened and a figure crossed the room, heading directly for the closet. There, the figure opened the closet, and quickly recovered a small notebook from a not so discrete hiding spot on the top shelf. The figure looked back at the doorway quickly to ensure no one was watching.

"Kasumi, Kasumi, Kasumi... you really have to learn how to hide things better," the figure said and looked over the Love Note with a sly smile.

* * *

**End Chapter 5**

As I noted in chapter one, all input is welcome here. My ideas on this story are pretty sketchy right now meaning most my time is actually spent figuring out what to write rather than actually writing it, which is not the usual hold up for me.

Oh, and did anyone notice where I goofed up? Apparently not, but in a previous chapter, I broke a rule. No major worries, I'll just add a hidden rule to solve this as it was subtle but I did break one. Free cookies to the first person to figure out how I broke it. Answer next chapter regardless if it is found or not. As a side note to this, if you notice me breaking a rule, please get back to me on it. I'm not perfect, so it can obviously happen, and I'd like to correct the issue as soon as possible (otherwise it can get stuck in plot).

Speaking of next chapters, I have the next 2 already written. I'm currently just editing them (and trying to make sure I didn't bugger up any more rules). I'll be doing a double post next outing.


	6. Chapter 6

Ranma ½

Love Note

Usual disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, any resemblance to Ranma ½ or Death Note is purely intentional, and the rest of that jazz.

For the purposes of this story, any text within single quotes like 'this' is considered a thought.

Few question answers:

**Has Mousse had a direct confrontation with Akane's newfound affections?**

He knows about it, but is so far doing his best to keep his distance, while also not angering her.

**I'm pretty sure that it wasn't an 'instantaneous' thing, and there are also those who think that Shampoo was tracking both Ranmas and therefore at least had some idea who he was before he defeated her. **

That may well be, but from Ranma's perspective, and Kasumi's for that matter, it seemed pretty instantaneous.

**Chapter 6**

* * *

It was early Saturday morning, and in his hotel room, L was taking a short rest to eat, and to clear his mind. Eating was simply a necessity of life, but clearing his mind was a more situational thing for the genius detective. Something was bugging him, and he didn't know exactly what.

As he was trying to sort that out, a light on his computer began to flash. 'That's Watari's priority alert,' L thought as he rushed over. "Watari, what is it?"

"L... there's been an... incident."

"Incident?" L echoed with a frown.

* * *

Far away at the Tendo dojo, everyone was gathered for breakfast around the table before heading off to their various morning activities for the day. As they ate, the television was on, and Nabiki was currently dialing thru the various channels, only to stop at a news program. She was about to switch channels once more when the subject matter changed to Cupid. "Wonder if there is anything new on the Cupid front," she commented as she returned to the table to continue eating.

"There has been a great deal of discussion lately about the whole Cupid phenomena," the female anchor said. "Today, we're doing an extended segment on the issue to cover all the latest developments..."

Ranma sighed heavily, turning away from the television. "Is that all they talk about lately? And all they ever do is go over the same old news too," he complained, to which Kasumi only smiled.

Since their little outing, Kasumi had found her attitude toward Ranma had changed. She was finding herself more and more questioning the essential logic behind trying to get him and Akane together. While the thoughts had not turned into any kind of action, she had caught herself considering Ranma as a potential husband herself. Of course, with his incredibly complicated love life, she always dismissed such thoughts quickly, but they were lingering that much longer each time. At this particular moment she was pondering exactly what color of thread of fate currently connected herself and Ranma. 'Unfortunately, only Trista knows that, and she won't tell me,' Kasumi thought, giving the love goddess in question a quick glance.

"I wonder if this L character has gotten any closer to finding out who Cupid is?" Akane wondered aloud.

The question broke Kasumi out of her thoughts, as she remembered back to the broadcast. "L... oh, you mean that lady who made that broadcast," Kasumi concluded with a smile. "I think she's probably busy with other things."

Akane temporarily puzzled over this. "Kasumi, didn't you see the whole broadcast?"

"Whole broadcast? No, actually I missed the last part of it," Kasumi answered honestly. "Why?"

"That lady wasn't L," Ranma replied. "She and the other guy were actors. The real L was using that broadcast as a trap and Cupid fell for it."

"A... trap?" Kasumi repeated, not fully able to disguise her nervousness, but no one but Trista seemed to notice.

"Yeah, he was using the broadcast to get Cupid to reveal that he was in Kanto, and real. They said it was worldwide, but it was only aired in Kanto," Akane further explained.

"Oh... how clever," Kasumi said aloud, but inwardly she was thinking, 'Oh dear.'

Ranma let out a puff of air expressing his doubts. "Who cares? There are millions of people in Kanto. Like that means anything. And, the guy ain't so smart anyway. Cupid could have up and took off from Kanto now that he knows the police are after him. Pretty stupid to make such an open confrontation if you ask me," he commented.

"Police?" Kasumi echoed in concern.

"Yeah. He said he was going to stop Cupid, so I assume he's trying to have him arrested or something," Ranma answered.

"Arrested!" Kasumi again repeated, now very nervous. "Isn't that... a bit extreme?"

Ranma simply shrugged. "Hey, I ain't this L. It's the cops' choice what they do with Cupid."

As Kasumi agonized over this, her anxiety still largely unnoticed by the rest of the family, Trista simply nodded in an _I told you so_ manner. 'This is terrible,' Kasumi thought in a panic, but after a moment managed to calm herself. 'I'm getting worked up over nothing. This L still only knows I'm in Kanto. Like Ranma said, there are lots of people in Kanto. Besides, I haven't done anything bad. Just made a few people fall in love. Surely they will just give me a warning or something if they do happen to find me.'

"...Ladies and gentlemen, we've just received a new update from sources within the Japanese Police Department," the woman on the television suddenly said as she listened into her ear piece. "Is this confirmed?" she asked someone off screen, and her eyes went wide before she reset her news anchor appearance and addressed the screen. "Yes, we apparently do have confirmation. Cupid has struck the Japanese Police Force."

"What?!" several people at the table exclaimed, turning to give their full attention to the TV. Kasumi, however, was in puzzled shock.

"Yes, reports are coming in now that Cupid has caused hundreds of members of the department to fall in love. Further, the entire Cupid task force has apparently been affected. Details are sketchy at the moment, but it appears that those members have actually moved to destroy all evidence and records of the Cupid investigation. There is no official statement at this time, but..."

"Excuse me," Kasumi said suddenly, but went largely unnoticed as she left the table and headed quickly upstairs to her room.

Up in her room, Kasumi closed the door and ran to her closest to retrieve the Love Note.

"What's going on here, Kasumi?" Trista asked. Although she was not panicked like Kasumi, she was no less puzzled than the eldest Tendo daughter.

"I don't know," Kasumi said as she ran through the pages of the note, looking. "I don't remember doing anything like that."

"I don't remember you doing anything like that either," Trista agreed as she looked over Kasumi's shoulder. "Of course, my memory isn't the greatest, but I think I'd recall something like that."

Finally reaching the end of the written portions of the Love Note, Kasumi closed it, and bit the nail of her thumb to try to calm herself and think. However, she only got a few seconds to do so before a knock came at the door, startling her. "Um... Yes?"

"Kasumi, we need to talk," Nabiki replied from the other side of the door.

"About?" Kasumi asked nervously.

"About a certain note book, and a certain person named Trista," Nabiki replied.

Kasumi and Trista exchanged looks, Kasumi's unable to hide a touch of accusation at the love goddess. Trista shrugged, now herself worried, having no idea how to answer. Finally, having no answers between them, Kasumi opened the door to find Nabiki waiting alone in the hall. As the door opened, Nabiki smiled and waved at the love goddess behind Kasumi. "Hi," she said.

"You can see me?!" Trista asked in total confusion.

"Yes," Nabiki answered and walked in. "Close the door," she directed and walked over to Kasumi's bed to sit.

Kasumi closed the door as requested, and looked at Trista now with open accusation. "I thought you said no one could see or hear you!"

"They can't, I swear!" Trista responded defensively, gaining a chuckle from Nabiki.

"Not unless they touch the note," Nabiki said.

Trista hesitated, looked at Nabiki, then back at Kasumi sheepishly. "Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that," she said, causing Kasumi to sigh heavily. "But, you didn't say anyone had touched it!" she said in her own defense.

"She didn't know," Nabiki explained.

Kasumi took a second longer to give Trista a brief stare in disapproval before letting out another sigh to relieve her stress and turned her full attention to Nabiki. "How long-"

"Since she first came here I'm guessing," Nabiki replied. "Look, this will take a while to explain, so you better sit down too."

* * *

Nabiki's tale began several days before Trista's arrival at the Tendo home, with a completely unremarkable, but decidedly important event. Nabiki was looking for something to wear. Having exhausted her own closet of choices, and even Akane's, she had moved onto Kasumi's. Nabiki rarely went into Kasumi's things. Kasumi was quite a bit taller than Nabiki, making most anything that fit Kasumi too large for Nabiki, so there was little point in it. However, today Nabiki was looking simply for some head-wear, and in that respect, her and Kasumi were quite a close fit. However, her search wasn't going well.

Rummaging through the top shelf, Nabiki could not find anything suitable and was about to give up when she happened to touch a book. Curious, she grabbed it and took it down from the shelf to take a look. "Love Note," Nabiki read the title aloud. 'What is this, a diary or something?' she wondered. She briefly toyed with the notion of looking inside, but quickly dismissed this. Kasumi's diary was likely, in Nabiki's opinion, to bore her to sleep rather the be anything of interest. Shrugging, Nabiki replaced the book where she found it, and deciding there was nothing to be had in Kasumi's closet, headed out.

* * *

Nabiki would have completely forgotten the whole thing had not, several days later, she been in her room studying when a voice called out. "HEY EVERYONE, THIS IS TRISTA, AND I'M A LOVE GODDESS! COME SEE ME IN KASUMI'S ROOM!" Needless to say, this gave Nabiki a moment of pause. The voice was not one she recognized, but at the same time it apparently had not caused anyone else to take notice. Not sure whether she believed her ears, Nabiki grabbed up a nearby glass she usually used to listen in on Akane's room, but this time used it to listen in on Kasumi's. She remained glued to the wall through Trista's entire explanation to Kasumi of the note.

Of course, at the first available opportunity, Nabiki sneaked back into Kasumi's room to take a closer look at the notebook. She read carefully through the instructions, as well as marveled over just how many names Kasumi had written within. Closing the book briefly, Nabiki was in a bit of shock. 'Kasumi really is the one doing all this,' she thought, pondering all the ramifications, that is until something else crossed her mind. 'You know, this could be really useful,' she thought and, taking a look around to confirm she was alone, she discretely removed a page from the back of the note where it would be unnoticed and replaced the notebook in its original hiding spot. Looking at the removed page, Nabiki couldn't help but smile with devious intent. 'There are so many possibilities. I'll have to do a bit of testing first, but that shouldn't be a problem.' Nabiki's smile widened.

* * *

Several days later, and with a numerous names on her test piece of the notebook, Nabiki was pondering all the possibilities now open to her. She was at school at the time, taking her lunch break, and sizing up all the various people around her.

'It's too bad I can't use this to make me win a contest,' she thought with some disappointment. 'Would be so nice to win a few hundred million yen, and falling in love with someone is not such a big deal, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to work. Oh well, there is still plenty of rich bachelors out there,' she thought with a devious smile. 'Kasumi is so simple minded. She could do so much with this thing, and she doesn't even realize it. Hmm, I could sneak off with it, but then again what's the point. I can just take out another page or two and that should be more than enough. That way, everyone will just think it's Cupid and no one will even think about me." Smiling once more at her plan, Nabiki nodded and resolved to go do a little eligible man hunting for herself the next day.

However, as she was pondering this, the commotion of students around the television became evident. Struck by curiosity like so many others, Nabiki walked over to take it in, and watched the whole L broadcast. Once it was over, her upbeat mood was completely drained away.

* * *

Back home, hours later, Nabiki was in her room, for all appearances doing homework, but in fact simply thinking about the newest developments. After the broadcast, Nabiki had headed off to the library to borrow one of their computers and look up this L. There was little to learn, but what there was did not ease her mind any. Every time he was mentioned in any fashion it was in regards to a big case being solved, and in all of those incidents those cases had seemed unsolvable beforehand. If this was the man after Cupid, he was not a person to be taken lightly.

'Blast it all, now Kasumi has got the police involved. I can't use this now. If I gain any significant benefit from it, I'll be one of the people this L person looks into and that could get me in a load of trouble,' she thought with an intense frown. 'Well, it was a nice thought while it lasted, but it is just too risky. Jail time just doesn't agree with me,' she thought with a sigh of disappointment, but then her mind changed to another matter. 'But what about Kasumi? She's so bloody reckless she's bound to get caught. I suppose I could just steal the book and get rid of it... but who is to say that this L doesn't already have available enough information to catch her. Even if Cupid does stop it may not matter.'

Nabiki shook her head is dismissal. 'That's her problem, not mine. Why should I get involved? Everyone thinks she's such the perfect girl anyway, would serve her right to get tossed in jail!' Nabiki thought bitterly, but this merely masked the worry she was feeling.

* * *

Over the next several days, Nabiki did as she originally intended, which was stay out of it. Kasumi was apparently blissfully unaware of events around her, and the danger she was now in, but Nabiki said nothing, which wasn't made easier by having to act unaware of the love goddess following Kasumi throughout the house.

It was this day though that things changed. Nabiki had been on her way home when she noticed a rather out of place man in a suit questioning one of the local merchants. Nabiki recognized him as Jin Itsuki, who just happened to have himself a new girlfriend. Discretely approaching, Nabiki stopped at a nearby stand and listened in.

"...well, if anything comes to mind sir, please give us a call," the man in the suit said, to which Jin chuckled somewhat nervously.

"I really don't see the problem, officer. I mean, yes it's unusual, but I think Cupid means well enough," Jin replied.

"That may be, but ultimately that is for the authorities to decide. Thank you for your time," the officer replied and with a slight bow headed off.

Unnoticed by him or Jin, Nabiki was frowning deeply, her worry stronger than ever.

* * *

That night, she returned home and spoke to Kasumi in the kitchen. This served only to confirm that Kasumi was completely oblivious to the situation. Even when she dropped the hint that everyone was trying to figure out who Cupid was, Kasumi seemed more worried about the falsely accused than herself.

"Oh? I suppose it is only natural that everyone would be curious," Kasumi said, causing Nabiki to inwardly growl in frustration over her sister's thickness.

"Yeah..." Nabiki replied, masking her annoyance by finished her drink. 'Damn it all Kasumi, you're going to make me save your butt, aren't you?' she thought in annoyance, but let none of it show as she headed to the door, already pulling together a plan of action she had been toying with over the last few days. She stopped, and turned back to Kasumi, needing information. "I don't see you going out much lately, sis. You usually at least go see Tofu once a week or so."

Kasumi looked back over at Nabiki and nodded. "I did go to see him the other day, but he had a sudden emergency out of town apparently. And the time before that he was ill. Just bad luck I suppose."

Kasumi slight depression over this did not escape Nabiki. 'Okay, so the consequence is legit. Trista wasn't just making it up. That could complicate things,' Nabiki thought.

"Why?" Kasumi asked after a second.

"Oh, no particular reason," Nabiki lied but decided to turn the situation to her benefit. "Just thinking you've been spending an awfully lot of time at home lately. You should get out more."

"See, even she thinks so," the love goddesses agreed, but as usual, Nabiki acted as if she was unaware of her.

"I don't really have a lot of time-"

"Oh yes you do," Nabiki retorted. "You know, if you don't want to go out alone, I'm sure Ranma would go along." As Nabiki expected, Kasumi started at the suggestion, prompting her to press on. "Come on Kasumi, Akane knows, I know and you know he got hit by Cupid."

"How did...? I'm sure that wasn't Cupid's intention. Besides, it would be very inappropriate for me and him to go out together. He's engaged to Akane."

Nabiki pushed on. "Technically he's engaged to a Tendo. Nothing says we can't change the arrangement. It's not exactly like he and Akane get along as is and I'm sure you're just as aware as I am about her new interest."

"Listen to this girl, she knows her stuff," Trista once more agreed, briefly distracting Kasumi.

Feigning indifference, Nabiki turned to leave. "Just a suggestion. I mean, you stick around here so much and people might start thinking it's odd. With all the suspicion in the air, some fool might get the idea you're Cupid."

"Me?!" Kasumi said with a start, gaining an unseen smile from Nabiki.

'Now maybe she'll take the hint. Besides, I can use her distraction to get better access to the note. She is home so darn often it is hard. This plan will take quite a bit of prep and testing,' Nabiki thought as she walked down the hallway.

* * *

Sure enough, a few days later, Kasumi was off at the theater. A quick bit of suggestion on Nabiki's part managed to get Ranma out of the house too, leaving the upstairs empty, affording her easy access to the notebook.

She had already used the remaining amount of her previously gathered page to work out the details. Testing around school and the neighborhood was a bit risky, but necessary. However, as of now she was ready to put it all together.

By the time Kasumi and Ranma returned home, Nabiki had all the pages she needed for her plan to succeed, and Kasumi, as usually, was completely oblivious.

* * *

Back in the present, Kasumi looked at Nabiki in shock. "So you-"

"Yes, it was me," Nabiki replied in slight annoyance at Kasumi having to confirm the obvious. "I worked the whole thing out, and it's perfect. It is essentially untraceable, completely guts the investigation, drives a wedge between L and the police, and best of all, gives you an out."

Kasumi shook her head in confusion. "I don't understand. Exactly what did you do?"

Nabiki nodded, and straightened up to explain. "It's rather complicated, but the general plan is simple. I got the director of the police to become Cupid."

"What?"

"Yes. I did lots of testing on the note, using a piece of paper I took out of it. I found out, using that, that you can make people under its power do darn near anything, including write on paper from the note itself. Obviously, I can't tell them to write so and so's name in the note, since I'd have to not only know the person's name, but also I'd have to write their name in the note, potentially messing things up. No, what I did instead is give him a general instruction of write all the members of the Cupid task force names, and that worked just fine."

If it was possible, Kasumi was in even more shock than before. "Nabiki, you didn't... If someone uses the note-"

"Yes, yes, I tested that too. Don't worry."

"But, Dr. Tofu-"

"I said, don't worry," Nabiki repeated, standing up. "I'm guessing that if you knowingly and voluntarily use the note, that consequence does happen. But either if you don't know, or you're using it under the power of the note itself, nothing happens. I'm not sure which, as I couldn't test that, but I know that's the case. One of my classmates has got a boyfriend, and I got him to use it, and nothing seems to be wrong with their relationship... well besides him now being interested in this actress... but that's another matter."

"Nabiki!"

Nabiki waved off Kasumi complaint. "He was no good for her anyway. Point is, the director isn't going to suffer the consequence."

"But, how did you get to the director in the first place?" Trista asked.

"I didn't. Another girl in my class has a father who works in the police force. I used him to get the director. Unfortunately, he's not on the task force, so to make sure L couldn't track him back to me, I had the director hit a bunch of normal officers too."

"And how did you get the paper to him?"

"I had him come to a bus depot on the other side of the district. I just had him pick it up there."

"Hand it off... but won't he remember all this and tell-" Trista started to say, but Nabiki quickly shook her head.

"Nope, that's another thing I tested out. I can't make you do really unlikely things, like win a contest or something, but I apparently can make a person forget things. I just programmed him, and everyone else, to forget everything they knew about Cupid, and some random days too, just to cover my tracks. I also had him destroy the pages when he was done. Nothing to track back."

Trista nodded in admiration. "That's pretty smart of you. I never would have thought of all that. But still, now that he's touched the pages-"

"He didn't. I made some special envelops for them. Only the spot where he needed to write in was uncovered, and even there he was writing on normal paper. I put a piece of carbon paper in between so he never actually touched the paper, assuming the commands work, which apparently they did. I had to do that anyway. Had to put down a bunch of instructions down on the pages beforehand so they would do exactly what I wanted. Man, that was pain to figure out too," Nabiki explained, walking over to the window. "Took me a while to figure out that not only can you write the instruction before writing the names, but you can also write the object of the love to be literally the first person they encounter. Without that, I couldn't make it work. Even that was annoying. I had to write for him to obey instructions on another piece of normal paper. That Love note is too unforgiving. If anything happens that makes the instructions not possible, it will default. By making the instruction to simply obey instructions on a normal piece of paper as best he could, I didn't need to worry as much about some little thing causing the whole plan to foul up."

"Writing the instructions on normal paper, interesting. Never would have thought of that," Trista complimented, but was shocked to see Kasumi frowning at her, or at least as close to a frown as Kasumi could generally manage. "What?"

Ignoring the love goddess for a moment, Kasumi turned to her sister. "Nabiki, isn't this going too far? Now this L is going to be really mad."

"Maybe, but who cares? Think about it. Now, he can't trust anyone in the police force as I've shown I can control any of them. Beyond that, even if he does track it back to a source, he'll find out it was the director. I doubt he'll believe the director is the original Cupid, but now he won't be able to say anyone he tracks down is the original Cupid as they could potentially just be a puppet, just like the director."

"But, why do this?" Kasumi asked.

"Why?" Nabiki repeated with a frown as she turned back to Kasumi. "Kasumi, they had officers already interviewing people. I'm betting you didn't even bother being discrete about asking people's names, now did you?" she asked, causing Kasumi to hang her head. "I thought so. If he ever saw a pattern in that, he could have tracked it to you. What do you think would happen then, huh? Do you think Daddy would be happy seeing you dragged away in handcuffs?"

"No, I suppose not," Kasumi replied meekly.

"No, obviously he wouldn't. I was half inclined to let you... never mind. Anyway, now the police are out of the loop. He can't use them anymore. Without them, there is no way he can interview hundreds of people easily. Beyond that, even if he did, he couldn't trust the info he gets out of it for the same reason he can't trust the police anymore."

"I suppose you're right," Kasumi was forced to concede. "But still..."

"Look, all you have to do now is stop using that book. If you stop using it, even if by some miracle he tracks you down, he won't be able to pin anything to you. He might not even bother trying if you stop."

Kasumi nodded, self consciously looking down at her feet as she thought. Nabiki sighed in relief, concluding that she had at last gotten through to her sister. However, just as she did, Kasumi looked up suddenly at Nabiki. "But there is so much good I can-"

Nabiki planted her face into her open palm in frustration, silencing Kasumi. "Kasumi, look, you have to lay low here. This guy L is serious business from what I can tell. Trust me, I know how powerful that thing is and what it can do, but for now you have to stop."

"But... what about Ranma, Akane and the others?"

"They'll just have to wait, or fix things on their own. Not like things got any better when you used that thing anyway."

"I... guess you're right," Kasumi said with a sigh of defeat. "What should I do with it then?"

"Keep it," Nabiki replied. "On the off chance L does manage to keep going with the investigation and gets close, we may need it. We'll just need to find a better hiding spot for it."

* * *

Still in his hotel room, L was deep in thought as he watched the video feed from Watari's lap top. Watari was currently in the office of the director of the Japanese police force assessing the damage done. "...the computers were thoroughly cleansed. Every file was deleted and cleaned so recovery is impossible. Hard copies were also destroyed, mostly burned."

"This is a disaster," the director of the police said, hanging his head.

"I see," L replied. "A moment if you please. I must consider this," L said and shut off the mic to think. 'So, you finally made a move, Cupid. I must admit, you caught me off guard,' he thought in a small amount of admiration, before looking back at his notes to assess the situation. 'All the officers interviewed so far noted the affect occurred on Saturday night, while watching the same television program. Many officers also reported not normally watching that program, but finding themselves compelled to watch it this time. So, Cupid can control her victims, and the timing of the effect to a great extent. This is something she has never openly demonstrated before. Of course, she could very easily have been doing this all along, but in such a way as to not be noticed,' he pondered. 'Each officer also reported, beyond forgetting everything about the investigation, also forgetting a day in the last week, seemingly at random. What purpose does that serve? Cupid is attempting to conceal something, but what?'

L frowned, finding no quick solutions, and reactivated the mic. "Watari, is your monitoring program intact?"

"Yes L," Watari replied.

"And what does it show?"

Watari hesitated, cleared his throat and replied, "The only significant access to the personnel records was from the director's office. Further, the timing of these accesses coincide with times the director was presumably present, although that has yet to be confirmed."

"What?" the director said in total surprise. "L, you can't-"

"Calm yourself director," L quickly replied. "Cupid has shown the ability to control her victims with this incident. It is quite possible, even probable, that she controlled you as well. Nonetheless, you will understand that you now must be investigated."

"I..." the director started to protest, but quickly realized his situation, sighed and nodded in acceptance of this.

"Unfortunately, Cupid planned this out well. It has forced my hand, and I find myself compelled to move as she likely expects. As such, I must sever contact with the Japanese Police Force as far as the investigation is concerned," L said, causing the director to once more be surprised, but before he could say anything, L explained. "The entire force has been compromised, and with Cupid being able to control you all, I have no choice in this matter. You could further compromise the investigation. As is, with much of the record lost, I have only my local copies to depend on. Fortunately, I think they will be enough to proceed, but I cannot risk another such incident, or worse false information being feed in."

"I understand," the director conceded.

"Do not worry, my investigation continues. I will simply have to use other resources at my disposal," L said. "Watari, please download to me the complete record from your program, and continue the interviews, starting with the director. We may yet find something that Cupid did not anticipate," L directed and after receiving Watari's confirmation once more shut off the mic. 'The media has already gotten wind of this, and will likely soon learn of the removal of the Japanese Police Force from the investigation. That will likely satisfy Cupid for the moment. With that in mind, perhaps then it is time to move in a more subtle way against her,' he thought, already considering numerous alternatives.

* * *

Far away in China, Cologne was in one of the Amazon village's oldest buildings, looking over a large and tome that was even more ancient that the structure. After several minutes, she was not pleased with what she was learning. "Is this true?" she asked.

Across the room, an elder Amazon, even older than Cologne, nodded. She was the village record keeper, a position many thought her ill suited to given her blindness, but those didn't understand her true capabilities. "As true as any legend can be. It is of course difficult to say if all the details are right. The original events occurred nearly 3000 years ago, long before we kept such records. Even the story in that tome is a copy of what was only put to paper some thousand years after the fact."

"Then how can we be sure?" Cologne asked skeptically.

"Is not what is happening proof enough?" the record keeper replied, giving Cologne pause. "If this is what you now face, care must be taken. 3000 years ago, this power was great. In our modern age it is even greater."

"Yes," Cologne had to agree as she closed the tome. "If only there was some form of defense against such a thing."

"There is," the elder replied to Cologne's surprise. "Although, this is most definitely one of those occasions where it is fair to say the cure may well be worse than the disease," she said with a grin.

* * *

**End Chapter 6**

As I noted in chapter one, all input is welcome here. My ideas on this story are pretty sketchy right now meaning most my time is actually spent figuring out what to write rather than actually writing it, which is not the usual hold up for me.

Okay, now for the answer (since no one seemed to figure it out), where did I goof up? Simple, the last written rule states: After writing the object of the affection, the details of the subject falling in love should be written in the next 6 minutes and 54 seconds. Now, those paying very close attention will notice I violated this not once, but twice. In the first chapter, Kasumi first used the note specifying both subject and object and I was counting down in seconds. This error was more minor, and could easily just be chalked up to a lot of seconds, but I did it again when Kasumi affected the fake L and Watari. This time Kasumi was bounded by the time it would take her to get to the kitchen, do the last preparations with the tea and return, which is maybe 2-3 minutes tops, not over 7. Anyway, it's not a big deal, I'm adding the rule that if you don't start writing conditions within 42 seconds, it will assume you don't desire any conditions and use that time limit, not the longer one.


	7. Interlude

Ranma ½

Love Note

Usual disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, any resemblance to Ranma ½ or Death Note is purely intentional, and the rest of that jazz.

For the purposes of this story, any text within single quotes like 'this' is considered a thought.

Quick pointer on this chapter: it is a bit of a diversion from normal as I focus completely on the death note character side of things. Bear with me Ranma fans, it's just one chapter.

**Interlude**

* * *

Naomi Misori was having a bad day. No, actually, that wasn't entirely accurate. It was getting closer now to a bad week. However, since she hadn't yet gotten anything seriously resembling sleep in the last 24 hours or more, to her it was simply one long, lousy day.

It had started badly enough. Naomi and her partner had been sent across country to look into a possible sighting of a fugitive in tiny town in California. That turned out to be a glorious dead end, but while there she had a run in with the local sheriff, who, beyond the usual jurisdiction disagreement, apparently decided that it was perfectly fine to come on to her. The whole incident ended with her decking him as he had gotten entirely too close and personal for her liking while they were alone in his office discussing the case. Unfortunately, as bad as that was, it was just the start.

After having just touched down from her trip to California, she had been looking forward to a nice long stay in her own bed to deal with some serious jet lag and to forgetting the whole thing when she was called into headquarters. She had expected such, just not so soon after returning. However, little could be done about that, so after dropping her luggage off at home, she diligently headed in to get the long lecture that was no doubt awaiting her.

Once there, she was quickly told to meet with the director. Unfortunately she was forced to wait outside and listen as the director spoke in great uproar with someone on the phone. She couldn't exactly catch what was being said through most of it, but in her tired mind paranoia was being to win out and by the time ten minutes had past she was convinced that most of his anger was due to her little encounter. Finally though, the talking inside ended prompting the director's secretary to motion for Misori to enter.

"What the hell is he thinking asking that? I have a wife for... oh, Naomi, come in," the director said as he took his seat, having apparently been pacing. Obediently, Misori took the seat in front of the director's desk, as he turned his chair to look out the window, Naomi took the gesture as a sign of shunning, but said nothing. "I trust you know why you're here?"

"Yes sir," she replied evenly.

"Naomi, how long have you been with the FBI?"

Naomi hesitated, not liking the way this was going already. "A month... three weeks sir."

"Three weeks," he repeated. "That must be a new record. Must be. I've never heard of another of my agents being considered for criminal charges in less time."

"What?!" Misori exclaimed, but quickly fell silent as the director spun around to look at her.

"I spoke to the sheriff already, and he is threatening to bring you up on everything from obstruction of justice to assault!"

"That's ludicrous!" Misori countered, jumping to her feet and slapping the desk. "He is the one that should be up on charges for sexual harassment!"

"Sit down!" the director ordered sharply, and after a second of shock, Naomi meekly complied. "So, do you have any witnesses to back you up?"

"Uh... no," Naomi admitted.

"So then, who am I to believe? A three week rookie agent, or a decorated twenty year veteran of the force?" the director asked bluntly, to which Naomi could only answer with silence. "You're just-" he began to say when his phone suddenly rang. "Now what, hello?" he said as grabbed up the phone in annoyance. However, no sooner had he answered than his expression changed to a slightly nervous one, and he once more turned his chair around to be out of view. "I am in the middle... Yes, yes she's here... What?... I see, but... I'll look into that... Are you serious?... Well, I suppose that would be an acceptable compromise. But are you... Okay then, if you're sure?... Okay, I trust this settles the matter then?... Good." The director turned back around, placed the phone of the hook and regarded a slightly confused Naomi for a moment. "You're taking a leave of absence."

"What?! But sir-"

"I can make that a suspension," he cautioned, silencing her. "As I was saying, you'll be taking an indefinite leave of absence. Leave your badge and sidearm here. You're dismissed."

* * *

To say Naomi was mad after that would be a gross understatement. She had in fact been telling the truth, and it rubbed her wrong on so many levels that she was the one not only being distrusted, but, worse, being punished as well. She had already endured a lot to get into the FBI, and a lot since becoming an agent. Being female and Japanese in a mostly Caucasian male dominated institute had made things difficult, but this was nearly her limit. It had taken every ounce of her remaining self control to leave FBI headquarters without making a scene.

By the time she had made it home, her emotions were in a wild storm of anger and self pity. She barely noticed the package set in front of her apartment door, practically kicking it inside as she entered, uncaring about its contents. After tossing aside her coat angrily, she threw herself onto her bed and lay staring at the ceiling. "That was probably that ass on the phone with him," she muttered. "And that idiot thinks he's doing me a favor! I can't believe he just ups and trusts the guy... oooo" she continued, unheard by anyone other than herself.

Several minutes passed as she let her anger subside just ever so much when suddenly the silence of her apartment was broken by the sound of a muffled telephone ringing. "What the hell?" she wondered aloud as she sat up and tried to track the sound. After only a few seconds she realized it was coming from the package she had almost forgotten about earlier. Puzzled by this, she got up and picked the box up to confirm that the ringing was coming from within. The box itself was wrapped in simple brown paper with merely her name on it. A moment of paranoia slipped in as Naomi considered the possibility this was a bomb, but that was quickly discarded as an altogether ridiculous notion given that at this time she had no enemies inclined to go so far as to kill her.

Frowning, Naomi removed the paper covering to find a sealed box within, equally nondescript. A quick yank on the flap overcame the tap sealing it to reveal the box contained a cell phone. Despite nearly two minutes having passed, the phone continued to ring insistently. Naomi grabbed it and after a few seconds of fiddling managed to answer. "Hello?"

"Naomi Misori?" an electronic voice replied.

'What is this?' she wondered for a second before answering. "Yes."

"Good. I am L."

"L?" Naomi repeated in momentary confusion. 'What the devil is that supposed to mean?' she thought initially, but quickly remembered a lunch time discussion she had on entering the FBI with one of her fellow agents, Raye Penber. He had talked about a detective named L that the FBI often worked with. "As in the detective L?"

"If you wish. I would like to request your assistance on a case I am currently on."

"A case?" Naomi echoed before shaking her head. "Look, I don't know what this is about, but I'm on-" she began to explain as she headed over to her bed to sit.

"A leave of absence, yes I know. I was the one that told the director to put you on that leave."

"What?!" Naomi exclaimed. "Why would you... and why would he-"

"He did so because I requested it. I did so because your situation happens to be convenient. As well, after looking at your record I believe you are just the type of person I require," L explained, but it hardly soothed Naomi's anger. "I also informed your director of three previous complaints against the sheriff that indirectly corroborate your version of events. Please be assured that your absence is not considered a punishment."

"That's hardly the way I see it," Naomi replied bitterly but L seemed to ignore her.

"If you decide to accept my request, please be on the 12:45 flight to London tomorrow. All arrangements will be made for your arrival. Pack for approximately one week. However, whether you accept or reject the offer, please destroy this phone and do not discuss this call with anyone."

"London?!" Naomi exclaimed. "You can't be serious! You know how expensive a ticket to London is? And how am I supposed to get a ticket now? It is certainly booked solid."

"I have made arrangements for a spot to be open for you on the flight. As for the price, I'm afraid I must ask you to purchase the ticket yourself. I have already inspected your financial situation and you can afford it. You will be reimbursed at a later date. Remember, the 12:45 flight."

Before Naomi could say one word more, the line went dead. 'Is this some sort of a elaborate hazing or something?' she wondered in another bout of paranoia that she could not quite so easily dismiss.

* * *

Naomi was no blindly obedient fool. In fact, she was sorely tempted to ignore this L character and simply go to sleep. However, from what Penber had told her, he was not one to be refused. No, Raye had even been a bit nervous when talking about it. If this was the same L, then from what she could remember of the discussion, his requests were basically orders, and one did not disobey them without very good reason. What exactly would happen should one choose to disobey she had never found out, but if it was enough to make Raye nervous, it probably was nothing good. Given that he had apparently gotten the director of the FBI to put her on a leave of absence with a simple phone call, Naomi wasn't liking the prospect of finding out what else this L could do.

So, after giving the airport a quick call and confirming that a last minute cancellation had occurred opening up a spot on the flight for her, Naomi decided to go along with it. The next day she was on the plane on her way to London. Unfortunately, the previous day's events had made it impossible for her to sleep. Worse still, Naomi never did like air travel. She wasn't exactly afraid of traveling by plane, but it made her nervous nonetheless. Her usual method of calming her nerves was to take a mild sedative, but having no idea what to expect when she touched down, she had opted to avoid the drugs which had turned out to be a bad idea. By the time the plane had landed, she was already well into her forth glass of vodka.

So it was that a slightly more tipsy Naomi Misori stepped off the plane, collected her luggage and set out looking for whatever arrangements had been made. It didn't take long to discover a taxi waiting for her which she obediently entered and attempted to relax from the long trip.

"Hey, where we headed, anyway?" she asked after a moment.

"I was told to drop you off at the London Park Lane, Madam," the taxi driver responded.

"Park Lane huh," she repeated, but the name meant nothing to her. "Nice place?"

"Oh, very nice madam. One of the finest in London."

Naomi nodded and sat back with a sigh. 'Well, so far so good. It will be nice to get a good long sleep in, especial if this is one of the high end hotels.' In fact, Misori was nearly at the point of dozing off when her driver awoke her.

"Here we are, Mam. I'll help you with your baggage."

After going to the front desk and finding a prepaid reservation waiting for her, Naomi headed up to her room and prepared to relax. She had the bellboy drop her bag just inside the front door and looked the place over approvingly. "Man, this place is nearly as big as my apartment," she remarked as she headed into the main bedroom. As she did, however, she took notice of a particularly out of place briefcase on the table situated opposite the bed. Curious, she headed over and opened it to find it contained a computer and screen. Just as she opened it fully, the screen came alive with L's symbol, startling her.

"Hello Naomi Misori. I trust your flight was uneventful."

"Mostly," she replied. "We were a bit delayed-"

"Yes, I am aware. Because of that, unfortunately, we have little time. Please disrobe and place your clothing on the bed," L said calmly through his usual electronic speech, but Naomi took this anything but calmly.

"What?!" she exclaimed in total shock.

"Please undress, and that includes your undergarments. Do be quick," L replied as calmly as before.

Naomi however was stunned and the paranoia index in her mind was peaking by this point. 'This has to be a joke... A set up of... but, sending me all the way to London for a joke?' she puzzled as she nervously scanned the room, fully expecting to find some sign of people ready to jump out and shout GOTCHA at any second, but there was none.

"Is there some problem?" L asked after a moment.

"You can't be serious?"

"I'm always serious," L replied plainly. "I would suggest you hurry. Our window of opportunity is narrow."

Naomi swallowed nervously, debating whether to simply go along with the whole thing, or to call out her suspicions. By this point the paranoia had reached the point that she was beginning to believe that Penber was in on this and had made the whole thing about L up to lead her into this situation. However, despite the sick logic to that, she just could not believe it. Penber had been sincere and honest to her from the moment she entered the FBI. In fact, he had been one of the few agents to take her seriously. And, to go to such lengths as to send her across the globe for a hazing was unthinkable.

Finally, Naomi decided it best to play along. Hesitantly she removed her clothing, placing it as requested on the bed until she was completely naked. She was just about to announce this when the door to the room unexpectedly opened. Naomi nearly jumped out of her skin, thinking the worst, but instead of a crowd of jeering coworkers, only a woman entered wearing a bathrobe. The woman was blond haired, apparently American, or of mixed decent, and she looked Naomi up and down before saying, "she's clean."

"Very good," L replied.

"What's this all about?" Naomi demanded but instead of an answer, the woman removed her robe to reveal that she too was naked. Naomi paled as her imagination went wild but had most her theories as to the reason for this quashed when the woman thrust the bathrobe into Naomi's hands along with a pair of keys.

"Put that on and go to my room across the hall. Take the computer with you," the woman instructed and without further speech moved to put on Naomi's clothes. Only then did Naomi notice the woman was also carrying what looked to be a black wig, one matching Naomi's hair color and style.

Confused beyond any words, Naomi could do nothing but obey. She quickly put the robe on, grabbed the suitcase and went back to the hall. A quick scan of the hall revealed it to be empty. Looking at the room number on the keys, Naomi quickly crossed the hall to a room opposite hers and entered. Inside she found a mirror image to the room she had just been in, but on this bed was apparently that woman's clothes, along with a blond wig. She then noticed a small television screen with a video feed displaying the interior of her previous room where the woman was now finishing donning Naomi's clothes.

"There is little time, Naomi Misori. Please put on the clothes and wig you find on the bed," the brief case said, prompting Naomi to set it on the table and open it as before, then moving to put on the clothes as instructed.

"What's this all about?" she asked in a slightly more calmed tone.

"As we speak, the desk clerk who signed you in is on a short break. That break will end in 10 minutes. You must leave while his replacement is on duty so as to not be noticed."

"Not be noticed?" Naomi repeated in confusion, but shook her head as she dressed. "Whatever. I'm guessing you're pulling some switch here, but was it really necessary for me to take off my underwear too?"

"There is every reason to be cautious, not only for my own safety, but your own as well. It is my understanding, however unlikely, that some people do carry identifying information in their undergarments, so a complete change was warranted. Once you have finished dressing, place this briefcase by the door to your old room and knock. My associate will collect it. Then, take the bag by the door here and check out. You should not need to provide a name. Simply hand in the keys and leave as quickly as possible. I have a car waiting to take you to the airport."

"Airport?!" Naomi exclaimed as she finished dressing. "I just got here!"

"Here is not where I need you to be. In my associate's purse you should find a plane ticket and a new set of identification to get you past customs. Board that plane and you will be contacted again when you arrive."

Donning the wig provided, and quickly examining herself in the mirror, Naomi frowned in frustration. "I can't believe this. This won't fool anyone."

"Up close, no, but we are not worried about a close examination of your person. Now, you have but 8 minutes left, please hurry."

Growling slightly, Naomi did as directed and successfully checked out without being noticed. Only once in the taxi to the airport did she look at the new ticket to see she was now headed to Japan. 'This is insanity,' she thought, but had little choice but to play along.

* * *

Another long air flight, and several glasses of vodka later, Naomi set down in Tokyo Japan. By this point, Naomi was running only on nervous energy and was absolutely astonished that she was still awake. Not helping matters was that she was now sporting a rather nagging headache, either the first signs of a hang over or simply due to stress. Either way, it mattered little as she was feeling so bad by this point that she wanted nothing more than to sleep. However, no bed was yet available, and despite the close fit her doppelganger had been, her clothes were just a bit too tight on Naomi and that making things just too uncomfortable to truly relax.

Finally, Naomi arrived, passed customs using the identity in the purse and found yet another car waiting for her. Unlike the two previous taxi's, this one was a far more upscale car, complete with tinted windows that obscured all within from view. By this time it was night in Tokyo and all Naomi could make out of the driver was a heavy trench coat and matching hat which blocked all his features from view. No sooner had he called her over than he had retreated inside and out of view. All Naomi could do was enter and go along with it all.

Once inside she noticed the back part of the vehicle was separated from the front by another dark piece of glass, giving her no better a view of her driver than before. Giving up on that, Naomi tried to relax when a built in television in the seat ahead of her came to life, once more with L's moniker.

"Welcome to Japan."

"I'm really not in the mood for this," Naomi mumbled, but apparently L didn't hear her.

"On the seat next to you, you will discover another purse. Please exchange it with the one you are now carrying. It carries a new set of identification. You may remove the wig now. It is no longer necessary."

Growling, Naomi did exactly that, tossing the annoying headpiece against the side of the vehicle before grabbing the new purse.

"You have been booked under that identity into the Four Seasons Hotel. Do not worry about expenses, it has all been seen to. I've had a computer with a complete record of the investigation..."

By about this point, Naomi really wasn't listening anymore. Over the past several days she had been harassed by a local sheriff which resulted in her slugging him, forced to take a leave of absence over the incident, found out that L was responsible for said leave of absence, thoroughly embarrassed at her previous hotel, and generally lead around like a dog on a leash, Beyond that, she had been on one cross country flight and two intercontinental flights none of which she in the least enjoyed, had no sleep the whole time, was currently pushing a blood alcohol level that would have certainly made it illegal to drive if nothing else, and to top it all off, she was sporting a nasty headache. It was about this moment that all that combined for a sudden explosion.

The car had come to a halt and L was apparently giving some directions, something about keeping her real identity to herself. With all the elements combined against her, she seized on this one thing as particularly insulting as she was more than familiar with the basics of undercover work and she could no longer contain herself. "THAT'S IT! I don't give a damn who you supposedly are! You have dragged me clear across the globe, got me suspended, even made me do a strip show, and now you're patronizing me!" she exploded.

"It was actually just a leave of-" L tried to say, but Naomi was in no mood to hear it.

"Its the same damn thing!" she yelled, cutting him off. "And all for what exactly? You still haven't told me the first thing about what this is all about! And what is with you, acting all shady anyway?! Talking through computers and all this espionage nonsense! Who the hell do you think you are? I guess you think you're better than the rest of us, so superior you can't even show your face to me! Apparently you don't trust me in the slightest, making me jump through all these hoops of yours, and hiding behind that TV screen... I..." Finally, Naomi asserted a tiny measure of control of herself and simply got herself out of the vehicle and slammed the door behind her. She didn't bother looking back, and instead just stomped her way into the hotel.

Back inside the car, the glass separating front from back lowered. "That... could have gone better," Watari said from the front.

"Yes. It is fortunate then that I did not insist on the six point switch out."

* * *

After checking in, hunting down a bottle of aspirin, and generally calming herself with a long shower, Naomi had collapsed in bed after her long ordeal, cursing L and everything to do with him. Finally after approximately three days of hell, exhaustion finally won out and she was able to get some sleep.

A full day later, a now rested, and sober Naomi was looking at the computer that was placed in her hotel room, the whole time wondering just what exactly was going to happen to her. Surely chewing out L would not go by without some consequence. She had fully expected to at least get her walking papers, but so far not a peep out of him. That only made her more nervous as time went on as now paranoia was creeping in again and by this point she was half convinced that the computer would explode the moment she turned it on.

Fortunately, sensibility won out, and Naomi decided that she had delayed enough. She turned on the computer to find it did indeed have a full record, or rather what was left of the full record, of the Cupid investigation. Naomi had not really been following the whole affair, but even she was aware of it. After reviewing what had happened to the Japanese Police Force, she began to understand the excessive level of caution used in hiding her true identity. Naomi continued to review the database for the next several hours, becoming more astonished, and unnerved with each new record.

She was just returning from collecting room service for dinner when she noticed the computer screen was now displaying L's mark.

"L?" Naomi asked cautiously, fully expecting a good lacing down from him this time.

"Yes. I trust you are now recovered?" he asked in his usual electronic voice betraying no particular emotion.

"Uh... yes."

"Good, then we should get to work."

"L, about the other night. I hadn't slept, and honestly, I really don't like flying so I was drinking quite a bit, and-"

"There is no need to explain yourself," L quickly interjected. "I am well aware of your condition on that night. I hope you understand that the precautions were necessary. With the Japanese Police Force potentially seriously compromised at this point, I had to ensure that even if they look into you that your real name would not be discovered. Beyond the events you are aware of, Watari and I have seen to it that FBI records regarding yourself, plus all other records, have been altered to leave no connections. As far as official record goes, you are now Maho Nakako. For the safety sake, even when conversing with me, please use that name from now on."

The newly dubbed Maho nodded in understanding and acceptance of this as she took her seat by the computer. "I understand. But, if I may ask, why me?"

"Given what has happened to the Japanese Police, I have found my normal influence on matters reduced. To be blunt, nearly no agency I currently have contact with wishes to get involved. In fact, your FBI director commented that... his wife would likely kill him. That is surely a overstatement of the matter, but I understand the sentiments and concerns.

"I therefore had to compromise. As I said when we first spoke, your situation was convenient for this. Your absence from the FBI is fully explainable, you are relatively low profile in the agency, and you are Japanese by birth. Your records show that you have particular talent, whether your fellow agents recognize it or not," L explained, although Maho couldn't help but feel it was likely more of the former convenience rather than the latter talent, but she wasn't about to reject the praise. "Beyond that, given the difficulties in securing an individual's identity, it is perhaps better that we stick to a small group. For now, you are my lead in the area. As the situation requires, I will add members."

"I understand."

"Very good. I'd also like to make it clear that only my female associate monitored you while you disrobed. There was no... strip show as you say."

"Ah... yeah, I kinda figured that out afterwards," Maho said sheepishly.

"Good. Likewise, beyond the mic in this computer which you may freely shut off, your room is not being monitored. I trust that you are willing to continue with the case under these arrangements?"

"Oh, yes L. Its fine. I just... overreacted."

"Then I would like to hear your thoughts on the case. You have reviewed the record?"

"Yes, although I'm not sure exactly what thoughts you would like to hear."

"Let us start with the basics. Do you agree with the current assumptions regarding Cupid's likely identity and limitations?"

Maho considered this. "That it is likely a woman with a husband or children seems perfectly reasonable given what we know right now. Of course, as you noted, this isn't certain, but it does seem favored. By all that we know, it does indeed look like Cupid does need both a name and a face to affect someone. Although..."

"Although? Please feel free to speak your mind."

Maho hesitated. She had already made a bad enough impression, and calling his assumptions and reasoning into question did not seem a great way to improve that. However, she decided it best to simply go with the truth. "It's the police force. Sure, they don't exactly hide their names or faces generally, but she hit so many of them. That's a lot of people, many, if I read right, that weren't even in town at the time. To get all those names and faces..."

"So, it is your conclusion that Cupid does not need those elements?"

Maho thought for a second and shook her head. "Actually, no. I had a different thought actually. Although it is possible that the limitation may just be coincidence elsewhere, that's an awfully deliberate coincidence. It's the kind of thing Cupid would have to actively look out for, especially with stage names. Lots of actors have gone by their stage names for so long that it would take some serious effort to even learn that they had one to avoid them. No, I think that limitation is valid."

"Then, what is your proposal?"

She collected her thoughts for a moment before answering. "She's shown she can control her victims now, both by having them destroy the records, and watching the TV program. She could have used that same power on one officer to gain access to the police personnel records. I would suspect those have both names and faces for all the officers."

"Very good... and you would be correct," L responded to Maho's shock. "Not noted in those records is that I had Watari make certain changes to the police computer database. I had anticipated that Cupid might try to gain access to police records at one point, although even I must admit I never expected something on this scale. Nonetheless, from this we were able to track a complete download of the database to one computer in particular."

"Whose?"

"The director's," L answered, once more shocking Maho.

"The director? Woah, she went right to the top," Majo said in amazement.

"Yes. However, there is also a problem with your theory. Although the director did indeed access the personnel records, he did not transmit them to anyone else. His office is monitored by surveillance and even one of my most able associates on the matter could not penetrate it without leaving some trace of which we've found none. Further, the timing of the accesses coincides with times the director is known to be in his office."

"That really makes no sense at all," Maho noted as she leaned back to think. "Or maybe the director is Cupid?"

"Unlikely. The director gave his permission for the alterations to the system and would have known his activities would have easily been discovered. Additionally, his profile is a very poor fit to Cupid's normal activities."

"Yeah..."

" As you know, each affected officer forgot one day between Sunday and Saturday of that week, with the broadcast occurring on Saturday evening. The director forgot Tuesday. His accesses to the database occurred on Wednesday thru Friday, with 5 and 10 seconds between each. Otherwise, his activity on those days seems normal, as does the rest of the officers."

"Sounds like something happened on Tuesday," Maho thought aloud.

"I would tend to agree. Just yesterday, after inspecting the director's car, Watari discovered a parking slip for Tuesday of that week. The slip is for a parking facility in Nerima district, somewhere that the director has no reason to be at that time. He neither lives nor works there, and his regular routines do not take him there either."

Maho considered this. "What's in Nerima that he... You're thinking that he may have had contact with Cupid?" Maho concluded with interest.

"Potentially. There seems little other reason for him to be there at that time."

Maho frowned. "But why do that? That seems very reckless, leading the director of the police force right to you... unless she needed to. Wait, I know, you think that Cupid somehow gave her power to the director, don't you?"

"That is a possibility I am strongly considering at this point. We still have no solid idea on exactly how Cupid's power works, so it being transferable is not impossible. However, a complication of this is that the director has shown no further ability to use that power. He also has not returned to Nerima since the incident, or on Friday itself. Since his last datafile accesses were on Saturday, and I have confirmed that they involved officers that were both affected and whose records had not been accessed on a previous day, if the director did have Cupid's powers, he had them till at least that moment. This leaves him with no opportunity to transfer them back."

"Maybe it was only a temporary transfer."

"Another possibility. Further complicating this is that Cupid showed no signs of stopping her regular activity in the time period in question. Even individuals revealed on television only on those days were affected, suggesting Cupid still had her power at the time. This means that if some form of transfer did occur, it was merely a copy of Cupid's power, allowing her to continue on unhindered.

"Another puzzling element which I've only recently discovered, is that despite the director's public position, he in fact has had only two public appearances. One was five years ago, and another was twelve years ago before he was the director."

"Long before Cupid started operating, at least from what we know," Maho concluded for L. "But surely it's not that hard to get his name and face."

"Not too difficult, but not easy either. His name is easily obtained, but his face is not. While a person could monitor headquarters, they could not easily discern which person was the director merely from looking. Beyond that, he operates far outside Nerima. If Cupid got his face from seeing him at work or home, why not simply make a transfer then? Why have him come to Nerima?"

"It could be a ruse to throw us off," Maho suggested.

"I have considered this, but I think the probability of this is less than 20 percent."

"20 percent, huh," Maho repeated, wondering idly just how L had come up with the number, but decided not to make an issue of it. "This is all very strange."

"How so?"

'What isn't strange about this,' Maho thought, but decided not to say that. Instead she decided to just try tossing out ideas. "I mean the whole thing. Up till now Cupid hasn't done anything like this. She's been... well, rather benign. I mean, for instance, Cupid generally avoids married people. This time she seems to have deliberately targeted them. Why the change?"

L seemed to consider this. "It could simply be a matter of necessity. Many members of the task force were married."

"Then why hit the whole police force? That seems massively excessive. If she did have control of the director, surely she could have had him target only the members of the task force."

Once again L seemed to consider. "Very well, but we know that she did target the entire police force. What do you suggest to explain the reasoning for this?"

"Actually... ah, maybe I'm just too attached to my original theory."

"Please elaborate," L prompted.

"Well, originally I was thinking that another officer had been compromised and gave Cupid the police records. To disguise that, she hit the whole force, essentially hiding her true point of origin in a the crowd of officers." Another moment of silence passed when suddenly the screen changed to display the records of several police officers. "What's this?" Maho asked as she scanned the records.

"These are the records of those officers living or working in Nerima at the time, and who forgot Tuesday or earlier," L explained, and Maho realized that he had already apparently considered this line of reasoning.

"So, you think there may be something to it?"

"Consider what I said about the director's identity. Although difficult for Cupid to obtain, any number of police officers have likely met him in person and would know his face. If we are to suppose that Cupid transferred a copy of her power to the director, it seems perfectly logical that she could do so another time."

"And get the officer to compromise the director," Maho concluded with a smile. "But still, there are over 20 officers here, and it could be anyone close to them enough to know their names. Even people they met on the street, or a local merchant... it would be practically impossible to track this back to Cupid. And, even this assumes that the meeting took place in the same district as where the original officer was affected and that she didn't just met with him someplace else."

"I agree. Even if I did have access to the full power of the Japanese Police Force, it is unlikely that we could find Cupid from this alone. As to using this as a deliberate deception, I have considered that, but I feel it is unlikely. Firstly, although most of the police records of the investigation of public incidents were destroyed, I was able to retrieve a phone record that showed an unusual concentration of calls coming from the Nerima district of Tokyo. Unfortunately, the details of these calls has been lost, and taken by itself, this could simply be dismissed as an aberration, but together with the director's whereabouts on that day it is suspicious. Secondly, Cupid had little reason to think that we could possibly track her back while she was in control of the director. Her forcing him to forget the day of the meeting was meant to cover this possibility. It was only by pure chance that we discovered the parking slip, and doubtful that Cupid would have planned for that. Lastly, to pull off something like this, Cupid would want as much control as possible in the situation. Although she could have moved out of district, it is more likely she would stick to an area she knew well already rather than trying to learn an entirely new area on short notice. This would bias her toward places close to her. Beyond that, being close to home makes it least likely that those she lives with would notice her absence. I have already presumed she has a husband or children, and either of these might find her leaving the district unusual enough to question."

Maho nodded in agreement. "I guess you're right. It is our best shot for the moment if nothing else... assuming of course we aren't wrong and she went after the director first," Maho replied.

"I must agree. However, as you said, targeting the entire force is quite unlike Cupid unless it was essentially forced by circumstance. If it was meant to hide the officer she initially compromised, then that officer's identity is evidently valuable enough that Cupid feels threatened that we might learn it. So, we should make every effort to do so."

"Okay, so where do we go from here?" Maho asked.

"The time stamps on the director's parking slip give us a time line where he was on foot for 1 hour and 7 minutes, giving him a potential max travel distance on foot of 33.5 minutes, assuming he did not use other transport which I believe is unlikely. Maho, I will have to go to this parking complex and survey the area in person. Take a photograph of the director with you, and make up some appropriate story. Try not to draw suspicion to yourself. It is naturally doubtful that you will encounter Cupid herself, but consider everyone you speak to as potentially compromised. Attempt to discern the director's whereabouts during that time. If he did meet with Cupid, there is a small possibility that a witness may have seen the meeting. As unlikely as that is, we will make the attempt anyway. Any information may be helpful. I'll upload all the necessary information to your computer."

"Right."

"Also, I suggest you take a moment to purchase yourself some more appropriate clothing," L suggested before abruptly signing off. Looking down at the bathrobe she was wearing, and then back at the now well overused clothes she had gotten from her replacement, she couldn't help but agree.

Sighing, Maho prepared to go out, but then stopped as a realization hit her. If it was true that L had already concluded that a second officer was involved, then he hadn't needed her at all. 'So why ask me... unless he was testing me?' she thought with a frown. 'Does that mean I passed?' she wondered, but decided it best not to worry about that right now.

* * *

**End Interlude**

Wow, this went longer than I expected, but sure got written fast.

Well, with Naomi now introduced we can get back to the Ranma crew. For those unfamiliar with Death Note, Naomi is in fact a Death Note character who was unfairly cut short by that SOB Light... you can tell I'm a bit bitter... okay, very bitter (that bastard!). Anyway, I figured L would need some backup here, and since I always thought she got a raw deal, I decided to work her in. Again this is a fair time before Death Note, so this is placed just shortly after Naomi joined the FBI. And, for those who are REALLY familiar with Death Note, this takes place even before 'Another Note, The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases' so she is as yet not together with Raye or deeply familiar with L (yes, I have said book). As a side note, Raye Penber too is a Death Note character. He was originally Naomi's fiancé and he too suffered an unfortunate fate. Unlike Naomi, he won't be playing a role here beyond what has been said.


	8. Chapter 7

Ranma ½

Love Note

Usual disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, any resemblance to Ranma ½ or Death Note is purely intentional, and the rest of that jazz.

For the purposes of this story, any text within single quotes like 'this' is considered a thought.

Quick comments:

Since Naomi will be called pretty much by everyone Maho for the time being, that's how I'll refer to her for now. Just a reminder so people don't get confused.

I see that a number of people share my disgust with Light for what happened to Naomi, which is pleasing to hear. Any fragment of sympathy I had for Light was lost with what he did there. _Grumble, grumble._

As to Naomi and Penber, hard to say just yet. I have 2 endings plotted out in my mind, and a couple other possibilities I'm toying with, although all are just variants on the same theme. As such, Naomi's ultimate fate, as far as love life goes, may well change.

Now obviously, since I just said that, I do have an ending or two in mind. Problem is bridging the gap between here and there. Deciding which ending I will ultimately use depends largely on how that proverbial bridge is built (and yes, one of the key components in such is just who exactly is Kasumi going to end up with).

**Though I wonder who the mysterious person who took the Love Note could be... **

I'm guessing you missed it and for anyone else who missed it, you may want to check out chapter 6, I posted it at the same time as Naomi's intro so a few may not have realized that and skipped it. If you didn't miss chapter 6, then just to be horribly blunt it was actually Nabiki.

**Chapter 7**

* * *

In what was by now a very uncomfortable routine for both parties, Akane and Ranma were walking home from school together. To most appearances this was no different than it had been for months, with both thoroughly ignoring the other, Ranma walking atop the fence at the road side, and Akane along the road. In truth, what was making it uncomfortable was the raging thoughts both were having.

At this time, both were intimately familiar with the situation, and the cause. However, that Cupid was involved did not make these new feelings easily dismiss-able. And, despite knowing this, neither could muster the self control to talk it out straight with the other. In fact, over the past several weeks, every attempt to do so had quickly ended in one or the other bringing up the situation, then other getting defensive, an argument as a result, a lot of hurt feelings (often accompanied in Ranma's case by a hurt body), and with nothing getting resolved. This had lead them to where they were now, an uneasy silence between them being the best either could manage.

However, today was different in one important regard, both of them were determined to end this silence. Only a combination of pride and uncertainty had kept them both silent up till now, but finally the necessary level of courage and humility had been reached for Akane to take the initiative. Clearing her throat, Akane began with a simple declaration. "I know it's not your fault." Immediately Ranma took noticed, and redirected his full attention to his fiancée. "I know Cupid is the one responsible. I'm sure you know that too."

"Yeah," Ranma quickly replied.

"So, there is no reason for us to be blaming each other," Akane continued on, feeling more confident.

"Of course not," Ranma agreed, also feeling some of the tension ease between them. "It's not like either of us chose this."

"Right, exactly," Akane replied, and took in a deep breath. However, as she did, she came to a rather disturbing realization... she had nothing more to say. 'What more is there to say?' she thought desperately. 'Do I say I'll promise never to see Mousse again... I'm not sure I can even keep such a promise, and he certainly can't seeing as it is Kasumi... oooh...'

"So, what do we do about it?" Ranma finally asked after a moment, but Akane had no answer. Taking Akane's silence as a chance to lead on, Ranma thought aloud, "I've tried denying it. I've tried ignoring. I've even tried reasoning it out. The feeling just refuses to go away."

Taking a second to stifle the pangs of jealousy that just wouldn't go unheard, Akane nodded her agreement. "Yeah,"she said sadly.

Another moment of silence passed between them before Ranma finally spoke up. "Maybe we need to... accept it."

"Accept it?!" Akane exclaimed in a mix of shock and anger. "You mean you want to be with Kasumi, is that it?" she accused before she could rein in her temper.

Ranma desperately waved his hands to avoid Akane's glare. "No, that's not what I... I mean... wait, isn't that kind of the point? Yes, I do want to be with her," Ranma finally admitted.

Akane could feel her anger boiling over at the declaration, but this time she was determined not to be a slave to it. 'I just have to remember, this is Cupid's fault, not his... not his...' she repeated to calm herself.

"I didn't chose that but I do. You can't tell me you don't want to be with Mousse," Ranma added after a moment.

"I..." Akane reflexively started to deny, but stopped herself and let out a deep buff of air to ease the tension. 'He's right, that would be an outright lie. That is the point. We love them.' Hanging her head, Akane let her anger abate. "No, I can't tell you that. I do. But, you can't mean to just... give in."

"I didn't say that," Ranma replied in annoyance.

"Then, what do you mean by accept it, then?" Akane asked in equal annoyance.

"I... don't really know," Ranma admitted after a second of thought. "All I know is fighting it doesn't seem to work. And... uh... nevermind."

"What?" Akane asked, looking at Ranma but he dodged her gaze. "What?" she asked again, more insistent.

Finally, Ranma looked back at her, a downcast look on his face. "And... I'm not even sure the feelings I have... even the old ones, are real... or different at least."

"What? What old feelings?!" Akane accused.

Ranma quickly distanced himself, realizing the extent of the verbal hole he was digging himself. "Wait! I just mean, you know stuff like Shampoo and Kodachi-"

"You mean you loved Shampoo and Kodachi too!" Akane almost roared.

"No, that's not what I meant!" Ranma shot back.

"That what do you mean?" Akane demanded, her anger barely in check.

"Think about it. We can't be sure when Cupid really started. Maybe it was Cupid... that... you know, got to them... and maybe others too," Ranma tried to explain.

The haze of anger hanging over Akane nearly obscured what Ranma was driving at but Akane forced herself to run over the thought. As she did her anger began to transform into uncertainty. 'I never even considered that,' she thought in shock. 'No, we're different... I'm sure of it... or... damn it...' Akane hung her head once more as doubt started to overcome her. With a sudden feeling of depression overcoming her, Akane realized she was near the point of bursting. Desperate for an escape, she suddenly turned and ran off.

"Hey!" Ranma called out after her, but did not give chase. "Where you going?" he asked quietly, obviously going unheard by anyone but himself, then let his shoulders fall. "Stupid idiot," he quietly cursed, slapping his forehead. Then, shoving his hands in his pockets he continue walking down the street, staring at the pavement.

* * *

Maho leaned back against the wall of a large commercial high rise, using the extra support to allow her to lift and massage one of her feet. She had been walking around the area of the parking garage for nearly 5 hours, and with very little to show for her effort. '33 minutes doesn't seem like much until you realize you have no idea which way he went, never mind how far,' she thought with a sigh, reseting her aching foot on the pavement. 'There has to be an easier way. This will take me days to cover the area at this rate, and I have no guarantee of talking to the right people either.'

She paused to look at her reflection in one of the building's many windows. Earlier that day she had finally managed to get herself some proper clothing. However, despite having a nearly unlimited expense account thanks to L, she had ended up playing it safe and going with her usual look, a black woolen tops with matching black slacks, with a leather jacket. She already had one person ask her who died. 'Maybe I should go with a bit more color... but I like this look,' she thought, but decided to dismiss fashion concerns for a later time. She was on the job.

Breaking out her map, Maho began walking once more while examining the area within the large red circle she had drawn on it. The circle denoted the distance on foot, she could reach in 33 minutes herself. Being conservative she had assumed a brisk walking pace, but that still left her with nearly 50 square kilometers to cover. It would be even worse if the director had run at all. Frowning, Maho couldn't help but find the situation hopeless. 'The odds of me finding a witness to the director's whereabouts, now over a week ago, are next to nil,' she thought in despair, but wouldn't let herself give up. 'I supposed to be L's lead in the area. I can't declare defeat this easily. There has to be something... someway to narrow this down.' As she stopped at a nearby street, her mind focused back on the reports from the interviews. 'Most all those affected who were noticed acted fairly normally. However, when it came to the goals Cupid had likely put on them, like watching that show, they went about them very methodically,' she thought as she waited for a crossing signal.

'If L is right, Cupid didn't expect us to get this far. She probably would then have had the director come directly to the meeting place from the garage... no, she probably didn't even specify how he got here, just that he got to the meeting at a set time. It would have been up to the director to actually get there. If that's so, he wouldn't have wasted time, and would haven take the route that would get him there the quickest. Okay, so if I'm right, that means the meeting place was somewhere on the perimeter of the zone,' Maho concluded, but a quick look at her map disappointed her. 'That's still a lot of places though, especially when I don't know his exact pace... Wait, there is another garage here... and one here...' Touching each in turn, Maho began to see promise. 'I can eliminate most of this area because it would have been quicker for the director to park at other places. In fact, that pretty much only leaves the southern area... that's mostly park area. Could she have met him openly in the park? It's possible I guess, but this Cupid has been pretty careful till now. You'd think she'd want someplace with some more privacy... or maybe not,' Cupid suddenly thought as she noticed a bus depot symbol at the edge of the park, very near the edge of her circle. 'The next best thing to being in private is to be in a crowd. In fact, that seems a lot more this Cupid's style. A bus depot at that time of day would be pretty busy. Lots of people coming to and from work, and students too. In a crowd like that, it would be highly unlikely that anyone would take notice of two people meeting up, even if they were watching for it.' Nodding to herself, Maho adjusted her path and headed over to bus depot to take a look.

A short time later Maho arrived and was not too pleased with what she was seeing. The bus depot was a larger one, and enclosed. Unfortunately, it had no regular staff, and only a single camera watching over it. Worse, that camera was clearly broken. Seeing a nearby bus driver on break, Maho walked over. "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know how long that camera has been broke, do you?"

Looking up the driver frowned. "That? Oh, over a month now. Damn kids. Still, you'd think they'd get around to fixing it. Been a few incidents around here," the driver replied.

"Thanks," Maho said in return and pulled out a picture of the director. "You wouldn't happen to have seen this man here last Tuesday, would you?"

"Sorry Mame, I don't work Tuesdays," the driver answered, taking only a glance at the picture. "Besides, we tend to keep our eyes on the trouble makers. This guy looks like the sort who would just blend in with the rest."

"Yeah, I suppose so," Maho sadly agreed as she returned the picture to her purse. "Thanks anyway."

Defeated, Maho had to console herself by grabbing up a nearby bus schedule and looking it over before leaving. 'There has to be a half dozen buses going through at that time. If this is where Cupid met him, she picked a good spot and time. No surveillance, and busy time of day. That would make it easy to get in and out without being noticed at all.' Sighing to relieve her frustration, Maho decided to take a break. Looking out into the nearby park, she spotted a cart selling noodles. Having not eaten in many hours, Maho headed over and ordered up a quick snack while she considered the situation.

"Order up," the vendor said after several minutes, handing over a cup of noodles to Maho.

"Thanks," she replied, graciously taking the food and paying for it. As she ate, she decided to continue about her task, questioning the vendor. "You always set up shop here?"

"During the week, yeah," he replied. "Not a bad location near the depot and all."

Nodding, Maho once more produced the director's picture and gave it to the vendor. "You happen to recognized this man? He would have been by here last Tuesday." Fully expecting a negative reply, Maha looked off at the depot, but was shocked when she got the answer she least expected.

"Oh yeah, I remember him," he replied.

"You do?" Maho asked in shock. "You sure?"

"Yeah. Definitely. I wouldn't normally notice, but he walked practically right by my stand. I said hello, but he completely ignored me. Probably would have forgotten him, but about... I guess, 5 minutes after that he walked right back the way he came, and ignored me again. First time I let off, but I thought it was awfully rude the second time."

"Was he going to the depot?" Maho asked.

"Yeah, I think so. That's another reason I thought it was so weird. Generally you see people going to, or coming from, not both in just a few minutes," the vendor noted. "What's this about, anyway?"

"Oh... ah, to be honest, I'm a friend of his wife's. She's under the impression that he being... you know," Maho answered.

"Ah," the vendor said with a knowing nod. "Didn't see anything of that nature, but hopefully that helps some."

"I think it did. Thanks," Maho replied, and quickly finished her noodles and headed out. As she walked, she pulled out a cell phone L had delivered to her, and dialed a special number he had given her.

"This is L," the usual electronic voice replied.

"L, this is Maho. I found a witness who spotted the director enter and leave a bus depot near here. He didn't see anything else, but I think that's where he met Cupid. Unfortunately, I've already checked and the camera at that depot is not working and hasn't for some time."

"No doubt a strong contributing factor for choosing that location," L replied. "Well done."

"Shall I try to talk to the bus drivers-"

"No, that's not necessary. Please return to your room for the time being. I think we can proceed from here." With that, as Maho was being accustomed to, L abruptly ended the conversation.

Frowning slightly, Maho returned the cell phone to her pocket. 'Why do I get the feeling that he somehow already knew this?' she wondered, but decided to drop the issue for now. She had had quite enough foot work for the day, and a rest would be much appreciated.

* * *

It was about an hour after leaving Ranma's side that Akane finally found herself outside Dr. Tofu's clinic. Her earlier wanderings had not helped her state of mind, especially when she had discovered that instinctively she had been heading to Ukyo's, the current residence of Mousse. It took a fair bit of her will power to resist the urge to see him in her current state of mind. Coming to Dr. Tofu's seemed the next best thing. She desperately needed someone to talk to.

So, with a heavy heart, Akane walked up to the front door and entered. Inside the front waiting room, she quietly sat down and sighed, waiting for the doctor to make an appearance. However, the first person she saw was probably the last one she expected, Shampoo. Unaware that it was Akane that had entered, Shampoo had entered the waiting room with a wide smile and started to greet her, saying, "Nihao. Doctor be right... oh is you."

"What are you doing here?" Akane asked suspiciously.

"Shampoo help Doctor while restaurant closed. Great grandmother in China," she explained then looked Akane over. "You no look hurt. Why you here?"

"None of your business. I just want to see Dr. Tofu," Akane replied in annoyance. Shampoo frowned, but then shrugged, apparently not interested enough to care and walked into the back. Once more alone, Akane sighed again, debating whether speaking to the doctor with Shampoo present was wise, but finally decided she didn't care.

After another minute, an older man walked out, apparently ending his appointment, and Dr. Tofu stepped out to greet Akane with a smile. "Hello Akane, what can I do for you?"

Getting up, Akane hesitated, but finally asked, "Can we talk?"

"Talk... oh sure," Tofu replied.

"Uh... someplace else..." Akane hinted with a nod to the examination room where Shampoo was.

"No problem," Tofu said with a nod. "Shampoo, I'll be out for a few minutes. Can you keep an eye on things?"

"Okay," Shampoo called out to reply, and with that Tofu lead Akane outside and the two started walking down the street.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Tofu asked.

"What is Shampoo doing there, anyway? Really?"

Tofu smiled. "Just as she said, although I think it is more because she is feeling a bit lonely than anything else. Don't worry about her. Now, what is bothering you?"

Akane took a long moment to gather her thoughts before responding. "I... you know about all this Cupid stuff, right?"

"Vaguely," Tofu replied. "Shampoo mentioned that she was affected. She said she thought Mousse did it, although I doubt that myself."

Akane nodded. "She wasn't the only one," she said, her tone making all too clear who she was hinting at.

With a sudden realization, Tofu nodded knowingly. "I see. So who-"

"Mousse," Akane answered quickly. "Doctor, I don't know what to do anymore. I've tried everything I can think and I can't shake it. Shampoo was lucky. I don't know how she shook it off, but I can't."

Once more Tofu nodded. "That is a tough one. How is Mousse taking it?"

Akane shook her head. "I know he knows, but it's not like he's encouraging it. I think he's still hung up on Shampoo. Doesn't seem to matter though. Actually, that kind of makes it worse. Before I was just annoyed at Shampoo for Ranma, but now I get mad just thinking about the way she treats Mousse," Akane explained, balling up her fists in front of her to emphasize the feeling before sighing and relieving the tension. "I can't go on like this."

Tofu rubbed his chin in thought. "That is definitely a complicated situation. Have you tried talking to either of them about it."

"Ranma... sorta."

"Oh?" Tofu responded, surprised how Akane didn't seem angry about that. "And what did he say?"

"He thinks we should just accept it," Akane replied, looking down at the ground.

"Accept it?!" Tofu repeated in shock. "Are you sure that's what he meant. I mean, with the way he normally acts-"

"Oh, you don't know about him either then?" Akane asked suddenly, to which Tofu could only shake his head. "I thought Kasumi would have mentioned it."

"Kasumi?" Tofu repeated, suddenly dazing out before quickly shaking his head to reassert his attention on the moment. "Uh, no actually. I haven't... come to think of it, I've haven't seen Kasumi in quite a while," he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

"Doesn't she usually visit every couple days?" Akane asked to which Tofu nodded. "I'm sure she just been busy... lately," Akane said after a moment, but worry showed through on her face. "I... I should be going..." she said suddenly, and just as quickly started to jog off, but Tofu called out to her after only a few feet.

"Akane, all I can think to say is if you can't trust your feelings anymore then perhaps it is time to look at what other qualities you want," Tofu said, pulling Akane up short.

Akane looked back at the doctor, thinking. "I... I'll think about that. Thanks Dr. Tofu."

Tofu waved goodbye as Akane took off, and headed back the way he came, once more rubbing his chin. "So, if Ranma has been affected too, I wonder who it is? If it was Shampoo, I'm sure she would have mentioned it by now. Ukyo was by the other day too, and all she talked about was Kodachi bugging her, so I doubt it is either one of them. Hmm... Nabiki maybe?" Tofu pondered aloud, finally reaching the clinic once more, finding Shampoo waiting for him, curious. "I miss anything?" he asked as he entered to which Shampoo only shook her head. 'Come to think of it, Ranma is usually in here at least once a week with some injury or another, but he hasn't been by lately either. Hmmm...'

"Doctor?" Shampoo asked, noticed his perplexed expression.

"Oh, it's nothing," Tofu responded. 'I wonder if Shampoo knows?' he thought, but dismissed asking. 'Probably not a good idea to ask. If she doesn't, then whoever Ranma is in love with now could get into trouble. Hmmm... why would Akane get so worried all of a sudden like that anyway?' he wondered. As he considered this, the pieces finally fell into place, sparking his usual casual and friendly air to diminish sharply. 'Nah, that couldn't be it... but she hasn't been by lately... could she and he... no... no... she's not interested in... that... sort...' he continued to think, but with each thought, his doubts increased.

"Doctor?" Shampoo once more asked as his mood quickly deteriorated.

* * *

"Stupid Akane," Ranma mutter continuously as he wondered the streets of Nerima aimlessly, kicking a lose soda can ahead of him with every few steps. He didn't truly mean the insult, but it was a habitual thing that served to calm him somewhat. Today, it wasn't working too well. "Why'd she go and have to take it like that? That's not really what I meant," he argued, but inwardly even he couldn't really see how she would take it any other way. "Darn it."

His thoughts so occupied, and his attention on the can in front of him, Ranma just barely noticed the incoming danger before jumping aside. As he refocused his attention he noticed he had avoided by a mere hair's width the impact of a huge mallet that spider webbed the pavement on impact. A instant later he focused on his attacker, and was quite surprised to see Kodachi, dressed in a cloak covering her usual gymnastic leotard. As Ranma landed, he quickly reconfirmed that he was indeed still male, and looked back at Kodachi in confusion.

"Drat, I missed," Kodachi cursed under her breath, and let go of the mallet to land and turn to Ranma. "Ranma... darling, how good it is to see you today," she greeted, although Ranma could sense quite a different tone to the greeting than usual.

"What the heck do you think you're doing?" Ranma asked, taking no risk and setting himself to be ready for another attack.

"Oh... that?" Kodachi replied, looking briefly back at the mallet. "It slipped."

"Like I'm going to believe that!"

Kodachi sighed and pulled out her ribbon, twirling it in the air absently. "I suppose it was inevitable that I would be found out. Such a sad ending."

"Ending?" Ranma repeated in confusion.

"Yes. I'm sorry to say, Ranma, that I have reconsidered our relationship," Kodachi answered, and looked off to the sky. "I have long thought that we were meant to be together. Ever since that night when you so gallantly saved me from that fall... but alas, I was mistaken."

"Are... you dumping me for Ukyo?!" Ranma asked with a cringe.

"Mmmm... how to phrase this..." Kodachi considered aloud then nodded. "I suppose simple and direct is best, then yes," she finally said.

"What?!" is all Ranma could think to reply.

Clasping her hands together, and looking to the sky with wide eyes, Kodachi explained. "I've long denied my feelings, hiding them beneath false hate and resentment, but on that day I could not deny it any more. Seeing her through that window that day... so dedicated to her work, I couldn't help but be moved."

"You do realize it is just Cupid-"

Kodachi sharply looked back at Ranma, but not with disdain, or realization, but rather determination. "Oh yes, but my goddess Cupid has only shown me my truth path to happiness."

'Oh brother, Ukyo isn't going to like hearing about this,' Ranma thought as Kodachi continued on.

"That day, I truly appreciated my darling Ukyo's beauty. I gazed at her for hours..."

"More like ten minutes the way Ukyo tells it," Ranma commented, but Kodachi ignored him.

"I came to realize where my heart really lies, and that it is not with you, Ranma," Kodachi concluded, looking back at him, now with menace in her eyes. "Of course, my dearest Ukyo has yet to truly acknowledge our mutual destiny together, and I know now why that is. It's you. Unlike myself, who has been given Cupid's guidance, Ukyo has yet to see the light. So, I find that task left to me."

'Oh great. I don't know whether this is better or worse than before,' Ranma thought with a sigh.

Pointing her finger accusingly at Ranma, Kodachi continued on. "I shall not have you stringing along my dearest Ukyo any longer, Ranma Saotome. Renounce your false engagement to her and I will be lenient, but continue on as you have and you shall know the full fury of the Black Rose."

'You know, I could just renounce Ukyo like she wants and get her off my back... but I'm thinking Ukyo would be even more pissed if I did that... hmmm,' Ranma thought for a second. Finally, deciding that anything he could say would only lead him into more trouble, Ranma did what comes naturally in such situation, run for it. Jumping suddenly to the nearby roof tops, Ranma caught Kodachi off guard and managed to put several house widths between them before she could react.

"Get back here, Saotome!" Kodachi called out as she tried to make chase, but quickly fell further behind. "This isn't over!" she said as Ranma made good his escape.

* * *

At about the same moment, Maho was just in the process of fishing out her room key to unlock her door when the cell phone L gave her rang. Quickly she grabbed it and answered. "Hello."

"Maho, good. Where are you?" L's electronic voice asked over the phone.

"I'm just at my apartment-"

"Good... good..." he replied but then the line was silent, puzzling Maho. "Have you had dinner yet?"

"What? Ah... no, not real-"

"Excellent. I believe I have discovered something and wish to discuss it with you."

"Just give me a moment and I'll-" Maho started to say as she once more went for her keys.

"No, in person," L suddenly said, startling her.

'L wants to talk with me... in person?!' Maho thought in shock as L started to give her instructions.

* * *

**End Chapter 7**

As I noted in chapter one, all input is welcome here. My ideas on this story are pretty sketchy right now meaning most my time is actually spent figuring out what to write rather than actually writing it, which is not the usual hold up for me.

Sorry about the long delay on this chapter. Been thrashing over various ideas. In particular how to get L actually in here. Decided to stop trying to over think it and just go for it.


	9. Chapter 8

Ranma ½

Love Note

Usual disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, any resemblance to Ranma ½ or Death Note is purely intentional, and the rest of that jazz.

For the purposes of this story, any text within single quotes like 'this' is considered a thought.

**Chapter 8**

* * *

For a rare time, Akane was fully capable of admitting it: she was seriously jealous! She had just learned from Dr. Tofu that Kasumi had not been seeing him lately. There was only one very disturbing conclusion that could be drawn from that given recent events: she and Ranma... well, it was unthinkable.

'You're just being paranoid, Akane,' she thought to herself as she finally arrived home and quickly looked around the bottom floor in search of her eldest sister. 'I'm sure there is a perfectly innocent and reasonable explanation. I mean, after all, Kasumi likes older men, right... right?' she continued to think, but was not convincing herself.

Her search proving futile downstairs, she headed upstairs. She could hear Nabiki's stereo playing, but found both Ranma's and Kasumi's rooms empty. Biting her lower lip, Akane considered briefly before knocking and opening Nabiki's door. "Nabiki, have you seen Kasumi?"

"She's gone out shopping or something," Nabiki replied from her bed, apparently engaged in some reading.

"Oh... Uh... Did Ranma-"

"He's with her I think."

Akane's eye twitched at this. "Kasumi and Ranma have been... going out a lot lately... haven't they?" Akane said after a moment, causing Nabiki to finally look up from her reading. After examining Akane curiously for a moment, she broke into a teasing grin. Akane frowned reflexively, but right now petty things like keeping her public image intact meant little. She was reaching her breaking point. "They really are seeing each other, aren't they?" Akane finally blurt out, nearly choking on the words.

"Calm down, sis," Nabiki replied, putting her book aside. "They couldn't exactly keep avoiding each other."

"But she's not even seeing Dr. Tofu anymore," Akane replied, grabbing a seat nearby. "Why would she stop seeing him unless she... ooooo..."

"She's not seeing Tofu? What makes you say that?"

"He said so himself. Oh he doesn't know about Ranma yet, but that's the only explanation."

"He did, did he? Hmm," Nabiki said thoughtfully, causing Akane to eye her seriously.

"Do you know something?" Akane asked, but Nabiki didn't immediately respond. "Is it something to do with Shampoo?"

"Shampoo?" Nabiki repeated in confusion.

Akane nodded. "Yes, she was over at the doctor's too. He said she was just passing the time there or something."

Nabiki nodded as she took this in. "I see... um... I don't know if Shampoo is involved. Let's just say, I wouldn't expect to see Kasumi seeing Dr. Tofu much anymore. I promised not to say anything more than that."

Akane was taken aback by this. 'Promised? Does that mean Kasumi told Nabiki something... or maybe she caught Dr. Tofu doing something? No, that couldn't be... could it?' With more questions than answers, Akane was feeling increasingly tense. "You know something, don't you? Wait... did Cupid get Shampoo again? Are she and Tofu..."

"Look, I don't know anything about that. I'm just saying the Kasumi and Tofu pretty much are done. Just leave it at that," Nabiki replied, grabbing up her book once again.

Akane couldn't take anymore. This was the last thing she wanted to hear, and a slow developing feeling of panic was starting to set in. 'How am I supposed to compete with Kasumi of all people. She can cook, clean... does all that good house wife stuff. I'm terrible at that stuff. Ranma will choose her for sure... ooooo...' Not wanting to have Nabiki see her lose the last remnants of her self control, Akane quickly left the room and took shelter in her own to ponder this latest development.

Nabiki made no attempt to chase her. Instead she got up, closed her door securely and went into deep thought. 'This is not good. I hadn't even considered this, but Kasumi suddenly not seeing Tofu sticks out. With Ranma being in love with her, I'm sure it won't take long for the others to find out about this too, and they just might start suspecting her of being Cupid... unless there was a perfectly good reason she stopped seeing Tofu... Shampoo's over there huh... hmmm... That could well work, of course I'm not supposed to be using the note, but... hmmm.'

* * *

As the elevator signaled its arrival at the eleventh floor of the hotel, Maho took in a deep breath, wondering just what to expect. 'He wants to meet with me,' she thought as the doors opened and she stepped out into an empty hallway. 'Heck, I don't even know for sure he is a he. Somehow though, I'm fairly sure he is,' she continued to think as she walked down the hall, a small package held by her right hand, scanning the door numbers for suite number 1106. It didn't take long to find it, and with another deep breath she stood in front and knocked.

Nearly a full minute passed as she waited. 'What the hell is taking him so long,' she thought nervously, shifting her weight slightly to reveal some tension. 'I wonder what he looks like?' she thought, envisioning a British man with a monocle, pipe and double brimmed hat, but quickly shook her head to dismiss the notion. 'Don't be silly, that's completely cliché,' she admonished herself just as the door handle jostled. Quickly, Maho righted herself, trying to put on the best appearance she could. Such became for naught as the door opened to reveal a young man who looked like he had just crawled out of bed, causing her to cringe.

Maho was stunned. Before her was probably the furtherest thing from her expectations. The young man was probably not even twenty. His black hair was unkempt, with an almost spiky appearance. His eyes looked sunken and tired, as if he hadn't slept in days. His clothing was no better. He wore a long sleeved simple white shirt, and a pair of simple bluejeans that looked to have been about 2 days overdue for a cleaning. Adding to the casual appearance was his complete lack of any footwear.

"Ah, Maho, come in," the young man directed, running his hand through his hair in a vain effort to organize it. Before Maho could say anything, the man walked back inside, showing little interest in his guest.

'That can't be L,' Maho thought in disbelief as she walked inside, closing the door behind her.

"Did you bring the pie?" the young man asked from out of sight in the main room of the suite.

"Uh... yeah," she replied, briefly check the package at her side which she had been instructed to buy on the way here.

"Good... good. And, please, take your off coat. We have much to talk about," the young man said.

Maho frowned. 'I guess he could be L... or maybe this is some kind of stand in?' she thought, but quickly realized that standing just inside the door would not reveal any answers. Quickly stowing her coat in the hall closet, she entered the main room to find the young man in a chair in front of a large collection of televisions and video equipment. His posture, however, gave her a moment of pause once more. Rather than simple sitting in the chair, he was almost kneeling in it, supported by his bare feet, and his back was equally folded over nearly parallel to his legs. In such a position, he almost didn't look human.

"Come in, come in, and sit down," he directed with a wave, his attention locked on the screens. Maho complied and took a seat next to the man, just in front of a common table situated between them. Finally looking away from the screens, the man gave Maho a glance. "The pie?"

"Oh... um, right here," she said as she retrieved her package and set the pie on the table.

"Ah, thank you," he said with a smile, one that seemed almost creepy to her. Quickly, he grabbed a nearby plate that had been set out and served himself a sizable piece of the dessert. Maho watched curiously as he took a fork and began eating. Even this was abnormal as he held the fork with the very tips of his fingers, almost like one might do if they were holding a delicate piece of evidence. "Ah yes, very good. Watari has been busy all day so my supplies were running low," he said as he ate, then noticing Maho's attention turned to her. "Would you like some? There is plates and forks-"

"No... I'm good," Maho answered quickly.

"Are you sure?" he asked and Maho merely nodded. Shrugging, the man turned to the screens. "As you wish. Now, to business. As you can see-"

"You're L?" Maho couldn't help but finally ask.

"Yes," he replied with a curious side glance.

"I'm sorry, you're just not what I expected. You're younger than I am. What are you? 18? 19?"

L shook his head. "I'm afraid my exact age I'll have to keep to myself, but you are quite accurate. Despite my age, I can assure you I am indeed L. However, for the time being you can call me Ryuuzaki. That is of course an alias."

"Right," Maho said, still finding it hard to swallow that this boy was the world famous detective L. 'L has to have been active for years. How could this be him?' Finally, she decided it was best to just proceed on the assumption he was indeed L despite the seeming illogical nature of it. If he was not, she was confident she could discover such during their conversion. That decided, Maho turned her attention to the televisions and examined them. "Surveillance footage? Looks like all the bus depots."

"That is correct."

"But, I already told you-"

"That the camera at the bus depot of the meeting was damaged, yes I know. These are for all the connecting bus depots."

Maho nodded, realizing just what L had planned. "You're hoping she used a bus to go to and from the depot, and to spot her doing so. Isn't that a rather long shot though? There has to be hundreds of people coming and going, and nothing says she got on or left via a depot."

"Yes, but I believe luck is favoring us," Ryuuzaki said as he used a remote to manipulate two recordings and paused them. "What do you see here?"

Briefly glancing at L to try and discern his thoughts, but finding him entirely unreadable, Maho turned once again to the screens and looked them over. It took nearly a minute of back and forth comparisons, but finally one figure stood out as common. "That girl."

"Yes," L said, pressing a button on the remote to let both recordings continue. "Notice how she avoids the camera. It could simply be coincidence, but it is curious," he analyzed glancing at Maho who nodded in agreement.

"I assume these times are around our meeting time."

"Yes. A hour before, and a half hour after. Sufficient time to seem natural. Unfortunately, she is aware enough to never reveal her face. From this footage alone we cannot say who she is," he said as he quickly replayed the short scene.

Maho examined the playback closely, but was forced to agree. "Whoever she is, she's definitely acting suspiciously. Still, surely this isn't the only suspect out there?"

"No. In fact I have identified no less than 54 individuals who could potentially be the person to meet with the director."

"54?!" Maho exclaimed. "How could you have possibly hunted down so many people in so little time? I just told you about the depot this afternoon."

L nodded. "I have actually been looking through various surveillance footage from in and around Nerima since the day of the attack on the police was discovered. Until you narrowed it to the depot, however, I was unable to cut the suspect pool from several thousand."

"Thousand?!" Maho repeated in shock, but quickly shook her head and reset her air of calm. "Still, what makes this girl so special?"

"What is she wearing?" L asked, causing Maho to once more look at the screen.

"Looks like a school uniform... wait doesn't that make her a bad fit for our profile?"

"Specifically it is the uniform for Furinkan High School, and yes it does make her a bad fit for our profile. But, she could be yet another puppet of Cupid's. However, what makes this special is that Furinkan High School also happens to be where the daughter of one our Police officers we have surmised may have been the initial point of attack attends school."

Maho nodded in sudden understanding. "Is that her?"

"Possibly, but from this we can't tell. I'm more interested in the Furinkan connection. You see, this is the third time now that Furinkan has appeared in reference to Cupid."

"Third?" Maho asked curiously.

Ryuuzaki nodded. "Yes. Some days before the attack on the police, I happened to be monitoring some of the Cupid related television programming when a young lady called in to one. As you are probably aware, call in shows are notoriously full of false information, particularly about Cupid, but this girl's claims stood out to me. She claimed that several individuals around her had been affected who had never been on television or in the papers. Further, she claimed the incidents occurred before the known start of the public incidents of Cupid effects. She also curiously withheld her own name, and those of the people she was mentioning. She even appeared to be suspicious of someone in particular. All of this made me very interested.

"Despite her attempt to remain anonymous, I was able to attain the phone records for the program. They traced back to one Ucchan's Okonomiyaki, owned and operated by Ukyo Kuonji, a female student of Furinkan High School, although for some odd reason she is registered at the school as a male. Despite that, I'm quite confident it was this Ukyo that called in."

Maho nodded in understanding and agreement. "That is way too much coincidence."

"Yes. Ukyo's information gave me cause to consider investigating even had we not found this most recent connection to Furinkan. Now I am certain of it. Cupid is somehow connected to Furinkan High School. In fact, that is where Watari is now. I have him setting up surveillance in and around the high school. We shall now focus all our efforts there."

Maho couldn't help but agree. 'Amazing how close he has gotten, even in the face of such a devastating set back. From world wide, to within probably but a few miles,' she thought with admiration. However, her thoughts quickly turned to more practical matters. "Wait, is that even legal?" Getting no immediate response, she turned to L who seemed to be ignoring her, feigning interest in the monitors. "It's not, is it?"

Sighing, L responded. "Technically, no. However, I have a great deal of latitude when it comes to my methods of investigation. That's actually part of the reason I've asked you here. We'll be monitoring all the rooms, so it could be considered inappropriate for me to watch certain feeds."

Maho frowned at the implication, but couldn't fault his logic. Changing topics slightly, Maho asked, "So, what's the other part?"

"You've been rather busy, but I'll ask anyway. Have you been watching recent Cupid activity reports?"

"Not really," Maho replied with a shake of her head. "I've seen a few shows on TV, but really haven't had a chance to closely analyze it."

L nodded. "I expected such. Would it surprise you to know that Cupid has ceased all activity since the attack on the police?"

"What?" Maho replied in shock. "That can't be, I hear lots-"

"Of false reports, yes. I've kept a close eye on reports, and since the day of the police attack, very few incidents have the tell tale signs of Cupid activity. Those few that do I'm quite certain are mere coincidence. Of course, it is possible Cupid simply has completely changed her methods, but I think you would agree that that is exceedingly unlikely."

Maho considered this for a moment. "If she's stopped, isn't that a good thing?"

"Yes and no. I may know she has stopped, but the public does not. False claims are on the rise, and the Cupid phenomena is rising with them. With the attack on the police, naturally many of those that publicly spoke out against Cupid have been more reserved, or completely gone silent. No doubt they feel threatened now. On the other side, Cupid supporters are increasing, partly due to the decreased amount of opposition, or simply due to Cupid's new show of power. In any event, the Cupid phenomena is showing it can actually live on without Cupid. If things continue on down this course, it is quite possible that Cupid could achieve a near religious following and not have to do a thing to maintain it. People will continue on thinking that reports of spontaneous love can be attributed to her and like all good cases of mass hysteria, this will prompt even more incidents to further fuel the craze."

"That doesn't sound good," Maho said.

"Good or not is difficult to say. Religion can get quite out of hand, or be quite beneficial. Difficult to predict how this will turn out without further Cupid influence, although the odds favor it ending negatively. However, that's not really why I brought this up. With Cupid inactive, we've lost by far our most valuable tool for finding her, namely catching her in the proverbial act."

Maho couldn't help but nod in agreement. "You're right. We have no idea how she does it, so even if we were holding the means in our hands it could easily go by without our notice."

"So, without being able to circumstantially link a suspect to the acts, we are left with very few avenues of potential proof. Primary among these is to directly confront Cupid and have her admit it."

"I still don't see what that has to do with bringing me here."

L nodded and looked back at Maho. "I have been quite impressed with your skills to date, Maho, so please don't misunderstand, but I predict that to catch Cupid in this manner, I myself will have to be the one to confront her. It would be too easy to miss a crucial detail otherwise. As such, I feel certain that I will have to reveal myself publicly anyway, if only to Cupid. There seems little point in keeping my identity secure from you under such a circumstance. Besides, this arrangement is vastly more convenient.

"I have arranged for the whole floor to be available. I'll have your belongings moved here at the earliest convenience, so I would like for you to choose a room for your continued stay. You'll find the room keys in the kitchen area. I believe the rooms are all essentially identical, but feel free to use any that you prefer."

Maho nodded and began to get up. "Right," she said but paused on her way to the kitchen. "Even though she's stopped, you're still determined to catch her?"

"Oh yes," L replied without looking.

"Why?"

"Catching Cupid may just be enough to put an end to this movement. However, consider if you would what would happen should Cupid's power fall into less discriminating hands."

Maho sadly had to agree with the implication. "Then what happens to Cupid?" she asked, but once again L appeared to ignore her. "You really don't know what you're going to do when you catch her, do you?"

Several more seconds passed, but finally L responded. "You continue to impress me. You are right, I'm not quite certain how I will ultimately deal with her. However, that is a matter to deal with at a later time, when it is actually worth considering."

"Of course," Maho replied and continue on into the kitchen and picked up a set of keys at random. "Anything else you need me for?"

"Not at this moment. I'll call you should the need arise," L replied. However, as she reached the door, he called. "Naomi?"

"Yes?" Maho asked after a second.

"Do be very careful in the future. NEVER let out your real name under any circumstance, even to me. It is the only thing protecting you."

"Huh?" Maho replied then sighed in disgust at being so easily tricked into acknowledging her real name. She nearly let pride get the better of her and argue the nature of the trick, but had to admit she had not even considered. "I'll... be more careful."

* * *

Shampoo was in a rather deep mental quandary. Ever since her brief bout of love for Mousse, her whole outlook on things had changed. First of all there was the whole Cupid issue. Although she was still inclined to blame the whole thing on Mousse, reason had won out in her mind making her doubt such a conclusion. Make no mistake, she was still mad as hell at him, but she could no longer see him as the culprit, and more likely he was simply taking advantage of the situation.

Second on her mind was Ranma. Shampoo had been in love with Mousse only for a short few days, but Ranma had been nowhere to be found. Although her desired husband's feeling were often very puzzling to her, she had long assumed that he was merely being excessively shy and would at least make a token appearance to protect his claim to Shampoo, but nothing.

While heavily disappointing in itself, that had lead Shampoo to a third thought. After calming down some, the hypocrisy of her anger towards Mousse for potentially doing something she had attempted on a few occasions herself had not escaped her. Being on the receiving end of such a thing had served well to make her reevaluate her actions. She had always viewed such things as fair game, and perfectly harmless. Now her opinion had taken a sharp turn, and that had lead to a disturbing thought.

That thought was the real reason she was at Dr. Tofu's. With her Great grandmother out of town, Shampoo found herself without guidance yet desperately wanting some. However, there was no one to turn to in Japan. Everyone else she knew was a rival, or someone she would never ask advice of. The doctor was perhaps the one exception to that. Although they had only a minimal acquaintance, he at least had shown her some respect and had not positioned himself directly against her. He also seemed fairly knowledgeable, thus making him the only suitable candidate to talk to.

Unfortunately, starting such a conversion was proving more difficult for Shampoo than she had anticipated. Having had so little contact with the doctor, Shampoo wanted first to feel out his current position in the greater scheme of things before asking him for his advice. Proposing to work for him seemed the best means to do so and thus far was working well. However, as the days passed, Shampoo found herself falling into an all too common trap for those worried about receiving bad news, she was avoiding the very thing she had come to seek.

Such a situation might have continued had not Akane come that day. She had not caught what had been said between the doctor and her chief rival for Ranma, but merely seeing her had reaffirmed Shampoo's goal. The only problem now was that as soon as he returned, the doctor seemed to become suddenly preoccupied with his own thoughts. It was quite easy to jump to conclusions from this, but Shampoo chose to control such thoughts and concentrate on how to finally approach the doctor. With the work day largely done, and clinic now empty save for her and the doctor, Shampoo decided that it was finally time.

"Doctor?" Shampoo asked as she entered the examination room, finding Tofu giving far too much attention to his tea.

"Hmh?" Tofu said idly as he looked up at the Amazon. "Oh, Shampoo, you're still here? You can head on home. I'll do any final clean up."

Shampoo half considered it, but after only a second hesitation, she shook her head. "No... Shampoo want speak with you."

Finally the doctor appeared to be shaken out of his stupor and sat up straight. "Speak... uh, sure. What is it you want to talk about?" he asked, directing her to a nearby chair.

As bidden, Shampoo sat down, considered her words, and then asked, "Does Ranma hate me?"

"Huh?!" Tofu blurt out at the unexpected question. "Um... of course not. Whatever gave you that idea?"

Unconvinced at the reflexive denial, Shampoo turned away for a second. "Is Cupid. Shampoo very mad for what she think Mousse do. Shampoo think Ranma may be same way to Shampoo."

"Oh, I see," Tofu replied, and held his chin in thought, which only worried Shampoo more. However, after only a few seconds of thought, Tofu shook his head and smiled at her. "Ranma's not one to hold a grudge. In fact, I haven't heard him say much of anything on that topic. I'm sure if he was truly upset with you on the matter, at least as much as to hate you, he would have mentioned something."

Shampoo looked at the doctor's smiling face and felt reassured. "You is sure?"

"Quite sure," Tofu reconfirmed with a nod.

With a sigh of relief, Shampoo stood up. "Thank you. Was wanting honest answer. So few here Shampoo know."

"Glad to be of some help," Tofu replied, but as Shampoo turned to leave, Tofu thought to himself, 'Of course, that doesn't mean he isn't angry about it. But, I really shouldn't get involved. After all, Ranma is engaged to Akane... who Cupid apparently messed up... and now Ranma is in love with... with... Kasumi...' "Wait!" Tofu suddenly blurt out, stopping Shampoo at the doorway. As she looked back him curiously, Tofu found his mind fumbling. 'Why did I do that?' he asked himself, but the answer was not yet one that he could accept. After a moment of puzzlement from Shampoo, Tofu sheepishly smiled. "Ah, it's nothing," he assured her.

Still at the doorway, Shampoo hesitated, unsure what to make of the doctor's sudden and very brief outburst. Before she had much time to consider this, the chime of the door rang, signaling that someone had entered. Shampoo turned just in time to greet a familiar face. "Great grandmother!"

"Shampoo," Cologne returned the greeting and entered the room. "Doctor Tofu. I hope my great granddaughter hasn't been a bother."

"Not at all," Tofu replied, standing to greet Cologne. "I hear from Shampoo that you were back in China. Did your trip go well?"

Cologne pondered her response. "Yes, and no. I was investigating this Cupid."

"You learn something, great grandmother?" Shampoo asked eagerly, betraying some her anger towards the person in question.

"A few things, only a little of it useful," Cologne responded. "We can talk about-"

"Forgive me," Tofu interjected, pulling both women's attention to him. "But... would you be willing to perhaps share what you have learned?"

Cologne looked Tofu over intensely. "Realize, I cannot exclude you as a suspect. You could very well be Cupid."

Tofu was taken aback by the point, but quickly collected himself. "True, you have no evidence to the contrary. However, I give you my word that I am not," Tofu replied, but noticed Cologne seemed unconvinced. "And... I have my own reasons for finding Cupid."

"Oh, something has happened to Kasumi then?" Cologne asked, shocking Tofu at her insight. "Interesting."

"What happen to Kasumi?" Shampoo asked, quickly looking between the two in confusion, but the only response she got was Tofu's nervousness.

Ignoring Shampoo question for the moment, Cologne nodded to Tofu. "Very well. The likelihood of you being Cupid is low anyway, and I do believe to find this Cupid will take some collaboration. Of course, that will mean that I expect to be told anything you know on the topic as well."

"Of course," Tofu replied, trying his best to avoid Shampoo's eyes. "Um... why don't I get you some tea. I'm sure it's been a long journey. Then, we can discuss everything."

Cologne nodded her approval. "Very well, but just some water for me, thank you," Cologne amended, prompting Tofu to retreat to another room while Cologne and Shampoo waited.

Once outside the room, Tofu sighed in relief. 'Can't dodge it forever. Shampoo's going to find out that Ranma is in love with Kasumi now, and then what?' Tofu thought, but came to no easy answers. After another minute or so of delay, Tofu returned to the room with a fresh set of cups and tea pot along with Cologne's requested glass of cold water. After handing them out, he took a seat.

Cologne took a few sips of her drink before starting. "As I said, I haven't learned much. I did find out that we Amazons may have had an encounter with another Cupid in our early history. Details are few, but the events described are remarkably similar, although not nearly so wide spread, although that is most likely due to the conveniences of your modern world."

"I see," Tofu said with a nod. "What happened? Did they even discover who Cupid was?"

"Yes," Cologne answered. "Although precisely what became of him is hazy. Tales are a bit contradictory in that respect. You see, he used his power on many Amazons. As you might expect, once discovered there was a great deal of... bad blood shall we say."

"They killed him?!" Tofu asked in shock, but Cologne only shrugged.

"Certainly a strong possibility, but details of his fate are few, and mixed. Some tales speak of continued activity after his discovery which would hint that he lived. Others speak of his end. It is difficult to resolve such a contradiction."

Tofu nodded once more. 'Whoever this Cupid is, he is playing with fire involving Shampoo. Although, this Cupid seems to put little thought into any repercussions. Has he no shame? Involving Kasumi and Shampoo! The nerve! Why, someone as young, and so full of life as Shampoo deserves so much better...'

As Tofu's thoughts continued, Cologne was watching him, and quickly noticed the sudden fog forming on his glasses. Following his gaze quickly she found Shampoo was the recipient, although the young Amazon had yet to realize. 'Oh no!' Cologne thought before rushing into action.

* * *

Across town at the Tendo home, about 42 seconds earlier, Nabiki finished her writing and quickly moved to put the Love Note back in place before Kasumi got back. 'It's for the best. This will explain why Kasumi isn't seeing Tofu anymore, and everyone will just assume it's been going on for a while since Shampoo has been at Tofu's this past while. It's perfect.' she thought with a smile. 'Of course, Kasumi will probably be a bit upset, but can't be helped. Besides, her chances with Tofu have been zero since she starting using the note anyway. She'll just have to live with it.'

* * *

**End Chapter 8**

Long delayed, but finally done. Why so late? Two reasons. One, I ran into a future plotting issue which had to be resolved this chapter, which obviously required that I actually make my mind up... which I'm terrible at. I like keeping my options open. Two, this is about where my firm plotting came to an abrupt end. Oh, I have ideas past here, but they are much more fragmented and uncertain (hence problem one because I had to decide which fragments to go with).

As I noted in chapter one, all input is welcome here. My ideas on this story are pretty sketchy right now meaning most my time is actually spent figuring out what to write rather than actually writing it, which is not the usual hold up for me.


	10. Chapter 9

Ranma ½

Love Note

Usual disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, any resemblance to Ranma ½ or Death Note is purely intentional, and the rest of that jazz.

For the purposes of this story, any text within single quotes like 'this' is considered a thought.

**Chapter 9**

* * *

Morning at Furinkan High school found one principal Kuno taking a time out to check for rule infractions. As was usual, a rule infraction was whatever he considered an infraction at that particular moment and thought he could get away with. In fact, if he had his way... well, Furinkan would likely be empty due to all the students and faculty refusing to come, but that didn't really factor into his thinking.

In one of his many 'offices', one painted floor to ceiling to give the appearance of a beach setting on Hawii, he was fiddling with the antennae on his television set. For the past week he had been getting a great deal of interference which was rather frustrating, but despite repeated failure at actually correcting the problem, he persisted. Finally, after several minutes of no luck with manipulating the actual antennae, he switched to the dial on the television, going through various channels of static. "Stupid... how's the big kahuna supposed to enforce them there school rules without the surveillance cameras working?" he muttered as he continued to twist various knobs and controls at random.

It was at about this moment when a knock came at the door. Absently he called out, "come in," while continuing about his efforts. As instructed, the door opened to reveal what most would assume to be a young girl, but who was in fact the teacher/school disciplinarian Ms. Hinako. She, like most the student body, had no love for the principal, but he did pay her check so she tolerated him.

"Uh, principal Kuno, I have a few questions about this new curriculum. I really don't think it's appropriate for high school... or any school for that matter," Hinako said as she said.

"Uh huh, uh huh, that be wonderful news," he replied, gaining a deep frown from the instructor. "Why this thing no be a working!"

'He's worse than Ranma,' Hinako thought just as the principal pulled away from the television in shock. "What?" Hinako asked, peeking around him to get a look at the television.

"Me no remember putting a camera in the girls' locker room..." the principal thought aloud, but suddenly felt a great deal of danger from his side. In a panic he withdrew, seeing Hinako glaring at him in outrage. "Wait!"

"DELIQUENT!!"

* * *

Far across the district, Maho Nakako (real name Naomi Misori) forced herself awake. The previous night, like every night for the last week, had been a long one, and like several times before, she had ended up simply falling asleep on the coach inside L's room. Looking around, it quickly became evident from the angle of the Sun that it was much later in the day than was usual.

"Ms. Nakako," the man named Watari greeted as he handed Maho a fresh cup of coffee.

"Thank you, Watari," she replied as she sat up and took a sip.

Maho had met Watari the morning after meeting L. Unlike L, she'd hadn't heard much about Watari, other than his role as L's usual contact with public officials. However, it still was a bit surprising to find out that Watari was an older gentlemen. She had not asked his age, but if she were to guess from his heavily graying hair, she'd place him at around 60. Despite that, he was very dutiful, going about any task set to him by L with a smile and great diligence.

While meeting Watari may have been a minor surprise, the goings on around Nerima nearly gave Maho cause to have herself committed. Since starting the surveillance she had witnesses all manner of things that she once believed to be beyond human. Boys and girls regularly beating the world pole vaulting record without the need for any pesky pole. Another boy, one Tatewaki Kuno, she saw smash through a stone fence with a wooden sword. Then there was Ranma who's movements were so fast the camera could catch nothing but a blur. Then there was the little matter of Ranma changing from a he to a she and back again with just a little water. It was about at that moment that Maho starting become suspicious that L was drugging her with hallucinogens.

What was perhaps even more unnerving than everything she was seeing day after day was that L seemed largely uninterested in the whole affair. Oh, he had fallen out of his chair when he saw Ranma transform for the first time, but that had been the extent of his reaction. She had argued at great length with him twice already that all of this was insane, but he remained his impeccably calm self and kept reminding her that this was reality. "How can you be so calm about all this?" she had asked him just yesterday.

"Because, I have had occasion to see it all before... save the Jusenkyo curse, but that too I had seen some information on. It is quite fascinating I will admit, but nothing particularly new to me," was his response. After that he had directed her to some files on one of his computers which she had been reviewing for much of the night. In them she had seen that L had dealt with many a 'mystery' case where such an specially endowed individual had been involved who the police had overlooked due to the super natural manner of the crime.

Taking another long sip of her coffee, Maho stood up and looked around, finding L surprisingly sitting in front of the monitors but with all of them off. "What's going on?" Maho asked as she walked over.

"Unfortunately, a stray signal from one of our cameras was picked up by the principal. It has resulted in the discovery of our surveillance network at the school."

"That's not good," Maho replied.

"No, but also yes. Obviously we've lost a valuable source of information, but fortunately, the nature of the discovery has lead most at the school to believe that the principal himself is responsible," L said, and looked over at Maho. "I think it little matters. We've collected enough information to get a good picture of the area and a potential pool of suspects. Would you not agree?"

"I guess so," Maho conceded, but her mind was still on the argument of the night before. "L, I still don't understand how you can find all of this... stuff unimportant. I'm willing to accept that this is all real now and such, but now that I know things like magic really exist, then surely we know that Cupid is using magic to do what she's doing."

"Do we?" L asked with an upraised eyebrow. "What made you conclude that?"

Maho blinked, at a loss for how to respond to such a question for a few seconds. "It's magic!" she finally exclaimed.

"Magic has rules, just like those things we call science. Central among those rules is the need for the user to have some connection with the victim. They could touch them, speak to them, have a lock of their hair... the options are quite diverse, but..." L replied, trailing off in a manner that Maho recognized was her prompt to step in.

"But your test showed that Cupid didn't need any such connection."

"Exactly," L said with a nod. Defeated for the moment, Maho sighed, and took a seat next to L. L remained silent for a moment, but then continued on. "Cupid's power is what drew me to this case. It defies all known rules I can attribute to every means of committing an act that I have ever encountered. What we are dealing with is something new."

"Maybe it's a new form of magic?" Maho asked.

"Perhaps, but doubtful. Another key aspect of magic is the reagents. Most advanced magics require them, and love magics are notoriously expensive in this regard. Yet here we have Cupid affecting hundreds of people with no signs of any resource limitation. If my sources are trustworthy, and I believe them to be, that is more cases of love magic in just a matter of weeks than in all of history combined and multiplied by ten."

"But she did stop," Maho pointed out.

L nodded. "Yes, and it may yet be that this cease in activity is due to a lack of resource, but, tell me, what do you do when a resource starts becoming limited?"

Maho thought for a moment. "I ration it. Cupid showed no signs of slowing her activity. In fact, counting the police, she actually increased activity," Maho analyzed. "Still, it's possible that she didn't know she was running out," she tried to argue, but the instant she said it, she shook her head, dismissing her own argument. "Yeah, but then the odds would favor a rough cut off. A half day of activity or the like."

"Which we saw no signs of," L replied. "Coupled together with the issue of the limits of magic, we are dealing with something else. Something new." Seeing Maho's disappointed face, L looked up thoughtfully. "Of course, that does not mean all that we have seen is totally irrelevant. This school and the surrounding area seems to be quite the hot bed of usual activity. Although nothing says that Cupid would require such an environment, it does somewhat speak to our assumptions up to this point being accurate and that Cupid is near."

"Right," Maho said, although she recognized the slight concession from L for what it was. "So, where to go from here?" she wondered aloud.

"You tell me," L replied, annoying Maho.

"Why do you even bother asking me? You obviously already know the answer."

L nodded. "The odds do favor that I have already reached the same conclusion that you will, but it is always good to confirm my reasoning. Do not misunderstand, it is very rare for anyone to keep pace with my thinking."

Once more, Maho sighed and decided to dismiss the matter. "Okay, in that case... We know, both from what Ukyo said in that phone call, and from what we've been hearing around the school that Cupid has likely affected those three girls, and the boy Ranma, oh and that Doctor too. From that I'm guessing Ukyo's suspect was Shampoo."

"The Amazon? Why her?"

Maho frowned in annoyance, but played along. "She's the only one to have broken free of the affect. The affects on Akane and Kodachi directly hinder their involvement with Ranma, Shampoo's desired husband, and indirectly deal with Mousse and Ukyo, two other thorns in her side. Now, yes, Ranma too was affected, but I think that is also why Ukyo was doubtful of her conclusion. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense that Shampoo would make Ranma love someone else."

L nodded in approval. "I agree completely. But, what of our newest angle with Shan Pu and the Tofu Ono?"

"It could be Cupid coming back to finish the job. If so, that would definitely show that Cupid doesn't want Shampoo with Ranma."

"Do you think so?" L asked, surprising Maho.

"What? You think differently?"

"I just noticed something. Perhaps you haven't," L replied.

"Noticed what?" Maho asked insistently, and L turned on one of the screens which showed an oscilloscope.

Grabbing up a nearby laptop, L began typing while speaking. "After learning of the involvement of Shampoo in this whole affair, I had Watari bug their phone remotely," L said. Maho frowned once again at L so flagrantly defying wiretapping laws, but said nothing as he continued. "They unfortunately do not use their phone for much beyond their business, but I was fortunate enough to catch one particular conversion."

* * *

Over at the Nekohanten, Dr. Tofu arrived for a quick meeting with Cologne. They had been meeting every other day since the incident, and although there was basically nothing new to report, they had decided it best to convene anyway, just in case Cupid tried to pull one of her memory erasing stunts on one or the other. Just outside, Tofu took in several deep breaths in an effort to calm himself before entering. The effort was quickly rendered pointless as once he caught sight of Shampoo, his mind fogged over just as quickly as his glasses.

"Shampoo!" Tofu greeted, took one step forward and promptly fell over a table. As he desperately tried to collect himself enough not to make matters worse, he found himself being pulled back up to a standing position, and whatever sense was left to him was destroyed as he realized it was the young Amazon in question.

"Doctor, you is so silly," Shampoo said with a smile. "Come, this way," she directed, as Tofu could only laugh nervously while in close contact with her. Knowing that his feelings were manufactured by Cupid did not matter. He was simply consumed by them, lost in them. Even being merely touched by Shampoo was shear bliss. Lead into the kitchen and out of sight of the public, Tofu still found himself lost in his own emotions.

No sooner were they out of view than Shampoo said, "I go on delivery now." Tofu could tell by the tone in her voice that despite the matter of fact words, she said it almost as a threat. The incoherent Mandarin she followed it with as she departed just reinforced the impression. Before Tofu could consider how to respond in his delusional state, he felt a series of quick pokes at specific pressure points designed to calm the mind. An instant later his mind and eyes cleared, allowing him to look around with some sense about him.

"She's gone," Cologne said.

Tofu sighed, and hid his face in his hands. "I made a complete fool of myself again. She's mad, isn't she?"

"Yes, although only indirectly at you," Cologne replied as she returned to the kitchen, the doctor following.

"Are you sure this is necessary, we still don't know-"

"We can only assume Cupid's intention was to affect you both. Had I not transformed Shampoo into her feline form when I did, she might well be under the effect as well," Cologne quickly interjected.

Tofu was forced to nod. The night nearly a week ago had been disastrous. Only Cologne's quick thinking may have saved Shampoo. She had explained later, once Shampoo had departed and he had regained his senses, that although details of the historical Cupid's powers and limits were few, that they only worked on humans had been stated. Unfortunately, once in love, whatever power would have been complete, meaning changes afterward would not break the effect, something they had already incidentally tested while Shampoo was under the effect previously towards Mousse. Although they could not be certain Shampoo had ever been a target, that was their assumption. Now, since Shampoo could not reasonably remain in her cat form all the time, the only option left was to fake it and hope the current day Cupid thought he had succeeded. Unfortunately, that did little to make Shampoo happy with the situation.

"Have you learned anything new?" Cologne asked, but the doctor could only shake his head.

"No. No one has asked me about Shampoo either," Tofu replied.

Cologne nodded. "Not at all unexpected. This Cupid will likely go to great lengths to hide his or her identity. However, continue to be diligent. There is always the possibility he will slip up."

"Of course," Tofu said, holding his chin in thought. "I'm just worried."

"Worried?" Cologne echoed. "Your situation can't get a whole lot worse."

"It's not about me," Tofu replied, and considered his words. "It's Shampoo. I still haven't told her about Kasumi and Ranma-"

"Oh that, she already knows about them," Cologne said plainly as she set about some cooking.

"WHAT?!" Tofu exclaimed, and quickly received a rap to the head for the outburst. "Sorry, but when? How? I thought you agreed not to tell her?"

Cologne shook her head in mild annoyance. "I didn't. After you mentioned her that night, Shampoo must have found out on her own. She's known for at least four days now."

"This is terrible!" Tofu said, more quietly this time, and began pacing the room. "Kasumi's not a martial artist. She can't defend herself."

"And Akane can?" Cologne asked, bringing Tofu's thoughts to an abrupt halt.

"What do you mean?"

"Be serious now. Akane Tendo has some skills, but do you honestly believe she would survive against Shampoo?"

Tofu pondered this for a moment, but was finally forced to shake his head. "No, but do you mean to say Shampoo isn't really all that dangerous?"

Cologne burst into laughter at this, which only confused the doctor. "Oh heavens no. That's not what I meant at all. My great granddaughter can be extremely dangerous, should she choose to be. However, as you should be well aware, her goal here is to win the hand of Ranma Saotome. Shampoo has become very much aware that doing Akane Tendo harm would actually work against that goal. Oh, there are certain circumstances I would not recommend Ms. Tendo get herself into with my great granddaughter, but right now the risk to her is minimal. In fact, it is far lower than it has ever been. Perhaps living here in Japan has softened her up a bit on the matter. In either case, the same logic applies to Kasumi, more so actually. Shampoo has expressed to me an extreme dislike of Akane on occasion. However, her sentiments towards Kasumi are far more positive."

Tofu nodded, although only some of his anxiety on the topic was relieved. "Still... couldn't you order her to not do anything... rash? I mean, you said it yourself that it would be generally counter productive."

Cologne shook her head. "No. I am here as an aid to Shampoo. I do not have the authority to dictate what actions she takes or does not take. That is purely her responsibility."

"So, you're telling me if she choose to do something you knew would destroy her chances with Ranma-"

"I would advise against such, but if she persisted, my only actions would be to aid her as best I could," Cologne answered quickly. "You must remember, my great granddaughter is more than simply a warrior. She is a potential future leader of our tribe. That requires more than simple martial arts. It requires wisdom. I won't always be there for her to come to, or to fix her mistakes. She has to learn to make the proper decisions on her own. If that means she must learn a terrible lesson here, then so be it. However, I have confidence in her. She has stepped poorly, I will admit, but she is making her way." Cologne paused to sample the broth from the batch of ramen she was making. "Of course, nothing stops you from giving her some friendly advice on the matter."

"Me?" Tofu said in shock. "I turn into a bubble brain whenever I'm even near her, even with those pressure points. How am I supposed to talk with her?"

"Oh, I have some more potent medicines around here. I'm sure I can whip up something that will see you through," Cologne replied, giving Tofu's a sideways glance, looking for his approval. He considered for a moment, but finally nodded.

* * *

Maho listen for the tenth time as a short conversation played out on the recording. "Okay, Shampoo can no wait to see you. Bye-bye," Shampoo concluded in the recording as it ended. Maho frowned and rubbed her hand across her lips in thought.

"It's difficult to pick out, but it does seem a little forced," Maho finally concluded.

"Exactly," L said in satisfaction.

"So, you think she's faking?" Maho asked, but did not wait for the response. "Why?"

L, putting his thumb to his mouth, considered. "Now, that is the question, isn't it."

"If we assume the original love effect was faked as well, maybe she's faking this one because Ukyo was right. Still doesn't explain Ranma being in love with Kasumi, but it's damn suspicious. But, doesn't she work during the day?"

"Yes, but I also get the feeling that she isn't stupid. Perhaps our profile is slightly off. She may have deliberately arranged things to be deceptive. She still might have enough access to television to be our Cupid. Also, since she's frequently out on delivers during work hours, that could explain why her access improves, contrary to the easy assumption that it would become worse."

"It's a long shot, but definitely worth it to check out." Maho pointed out. "We should set up some surveillance-"

L shook his head, interjecting, "Not advisable. Shan Pu is an Amazon warrior. They are well trained, and very dangerous if provoked. There is a high likelihood that any surveillance, either electronic or personal, would be detected. If she is our Cupid, she is extra dangerous, and we want to avoid tipping her off."

"Then what do we do?"

L seemed to ponder this question for a moment. "There is an old saying that I believe is very apt for this problem... hide in plain sight. The Nekohanten is down a waiter. They are no doubt in need of replacement."

"A waiter?" Maho asked.

"Waitress actually," L replied, looking with an all too obvious hint at Maho.

Maho took a second to fully realize the proposal, and sighed. 'It's not exactly a glamorous piece of undercover work, but I guess we haven't much choice.'

"Of course, that only deals with the first of our suspects."

"First?" Maho echoed in confusion.

L nodded. "Yes, and I find it interesting that you too seem to have overlooked her. She should be our most obvious suspect." Noticing the continued confusion on Maho's face, L grabbed up a nearby piece of paper and began drawing out a diagram of the web of relationships at Furikan. "Ranma Saotome has gotten himself into quite the mess. No less than four love interests, one former interest, and one male love interest. Now let's us map this all out. What do you see here?" Maho looked down at the paper, trying to see what L was seeing, but failing. Noticing this, L added, "We have common assumption made to this point that if untrue would make this situation far more understandable."

Maho once more looked over the web of relationships, and finally after several more seconds caught on. "You mean, if Kasumi actually does want to be with Ranma."

"Exactly. Shampoo, Ukyo, Kodachi, even her own sister have all been sabotaged. Then we have Ranma falling for her. Add to this her general profile. She has no job, and by all our information to date is a homemaker. She has two sisters and Ranma attending school so even with her father home most the day she would have much better access to television at that time, just as we predicted. It all fits very well."

"Almost too well," Maho replied. "Don't you find it a bit odd that Kasumi Tendo would take such a direct approach in this, but such an elaborate plan against the police? Also, why start using her power on people on the television at all if you're right. Seems like she would have achieved everything she would want."

L was forced to nodded. "I agree with your points, but I'm sure you would agree that she is at least as good a suspect as Shampoo?" L asked, to which Maho nodded her agreement. "With Kasumi we have nearly the same issue as Shan Pu. She herself may not be well trained, but many in the house are. Also, being a homemakers, she's has little cause to leave her home, making surveillance difficult. Unfortunately, getting access to the Tendo home is more complicated than applying for a job."

"It is a dojo," Maho pointed out.

"Yes, something to consider, but since Kasumi apparently has little involvement in the dojo, that won't afford much access to her. Watari!" Having been standing nearby silently the whole time, Watari finally stepped forward. "I want you to set up some long distance monitoring of the Tendo residence. Parabolic mics if possible. I want to see and hear as much as possible. Do be cautious though. They may not be as dangerous as Amazons, but I would not have you risking your safety."

"Of course L. I'll get right on it," Watari replied and headed out.

* * *

It was the lunch break at Furinkan High, and Nabiki was together with two of her friends, eating and discussing various matters of little to no importance, otherwise known to most outsiders to this tradition as gossiping.

"Hey, did you hear about Ukyo?"

"What about her?"

"I heard from Saori that she saw Ukyo out on a date with Kodachi."

Nabiki couldn't help but burst out laughing at that. "Oh please, that's an obvious lie," she said as regained some control.

"And how would you know?"

"Because, Kodachi is still buying pictures off me. They were actually dating I'm pretty sure that revenue stream would dry up," Nabiki replied.

"You sell phones of Ukyo now?" one of the girls asked in shock.

Nabiki shrugged, and took another bite of her lunch. "Whatever works. No nudes or anything."

"Probably because you can't get any," Nabiki's other friend said with a knowing smile.

"More for my own personal safety. Ukyo isn't quite as passive as Ranma or Akane," Nabiki replied.

Both girls nodded their agreement with that assessment. "Hey, speaking of nudes, did you hear what happened this morning to the principal?" one girl asked, but got only shakes of the head in response. "I heard Ms. Hinako caught him with camera's in the girls' change room. She went ballistic on him, and zapped him good."

"Don't you mean drained?" the other girl asked.

"No, she drained and zapped him!"

"Sounds like she was really T'ed off."

"Can't blame her. I mean, I knew he was a nut job, but a pervert too?! Men are pigs!"

Unnoticed by either of her friends, Nabiki's tension level rose. 'That's the thing though, he isn't a pervert,' she thought as she continued to listen.

"...Yeah, she's been going round the school ripping all his cameras out all day too."

"At least she's mad at him. Last week she nearly drained me for being late by one minute."

"How many cameras?" Nabiki asked, trying to seem casual.

The girl shrugged. "Not sure, quite a few apparently."

'Maybe he was just being thorough,' Nabiki thought, but it didn't relax her. 'I'm being paranoid. There is no way L could have come this far, especially this quick. I made absolutely sure of it.' Despite her own confidence, somehow she just was not convinced.

* * *

The business day at the Nekohanten drawing to a close, Shampoo dismissed herself from work and headed up to her room for some privacy. Tofu and Cologne were still apparently discussing matters, and Shampoo was in no mood for the Doctor's antics around her. 'It's no small wonder Cupid chose someone new for Kasumi,' she thought in disgust as she entered her room and laid down. She was just starting to get comfortable when a knock came at the door. Knowing her great grandmother never knocked, Shampoo knew immediately who it was. "What you want?" Shampoo could not help but snip at being disturbed.

"Can we talk?" Tofu asked from behind the door.

'Talk he says. He'll be lucky to string two sentences together before turning into a drooling moron,' Shampoo thought. Shampoo considered simply telling him to leave, but decided that she would give him a chance. "Come in." Tofu entered slowly, showing an extreme interest in the walls, ceiling and floor. Shampoo could not help but scoff at this. "You is worse than Mousse," Shampoo commented as she turned over and looked away.

"I'm not worse than-"

"At least he brave enough tell Shampoo he love her. You gutless coward!"

Tofu hung his head in shame. "You're right, I'm pathetic," he said, downtrodden, but only gained a moan of disgust from Shampoo in response. After taking a moment to collect himself, Tofu started again, "I know you're... angry, and I don't blame you. I just wanted... to... talk... uh... even with this potion Cologne mixed up for me, it's hard..." Tofu trailed off, unable to find the words. Annoyed, Shampoo rolled over to glare at him. Under her gaze, Tofu had a hard time even thinking. Quickly he once more diverted his eyes to the surroundings, restoring some of his sense. "I just thought it would be best if we talked."

"Shampoo have nothing talk about," Shampoo said plainly.

Tofu took another moment to collect his thoughts. "Shampoo, you know about Kasumi now, right?"

"Shampoo know Ranma love Kasumi because of Cupid, if that what mean," she answered.

"Uh, yeah."

"If worried about what Shampoo do, Shampoo decide do nothing to Kasumi. Kasumi no even know how fight. Would feel stupid have fight her," Shampoo said with a frown.

"Uh... that's... um... right," Tofu replied. "Right, I mean, Kasumi obviously doesn't want to be with Ranma, and it's all Cupid's doing anyway," he continued, gaining some confidence. "And besides, Ranma really would be upset if you..."

"Shampoo already said she wouldn't!" Shampoo said in annoyance.

"Of... of course," Tofu stammered. "I'm... just worried is all."

"You lied to me," Shampoo suddenly said, catching Tofu off guard.

"What?"

Shampoo jumped to her feet and moved within mere inches of Tofu, practically forcing his attention back to her. "You no even trust me. Ranma is same, yes? You lie, try make Shampoo feel better."

So confronted, Tofu felt a different sort of nervousness take hold, one that helped clear his thought rather than cloud it. "That's not true," he argued. "You asked if he hated you, and I meant it when I said he didn't."

"You know what Shampoo meant!" she said.

A feeling a guilt taking hold, for the first time since the conversation started, Tofu felt surprisingly like himself. Hanging his head, he took a moment before replying. "Yes... I knew." Steeling himself, he looked directly at the Shampoo. "So, I'll be honest with you. Your chances with Ranma are rather poor right now. Obviously, he's still rather worried about you. I mean, you were trying to kill him after all."

"Shampoo no do that anymore," Shampoo replied, hanging her own head.

"It's not that easy to forget. And, the other stuff isn't helping matters any I'm sure. He doesn't hate you, but..." Tofu explained, and as he did he could tell it was taking it's toll on Shampoo. Once more, the nagging feeling of love resurfaced, nearly demand he try to console her, and for an instance he nearly succumb to it, but as if sensing his intent, Shampoo shot him a warning glare. The desire quashed, Tofu turned away to reassemble his control.

"This no fair," Shampoo muttered as she too turned away and walked over to the window. "It hard enough, now Cupid..." she continued, finally letting out a low growl of frustration.

"I can help you," came as a sudden reply.

Shampoo looked back at Tofu in confusion. "What you mean?"

"Uh..." Tofu hesitated, but with a shake of his head restored his confidence. "I can help you with... Ranma."

"Why you do that?" she asked suspiciously.

"Why... well, because?"

Shampoo gave the doctor an unamused look. "You love Shampoo, no? Then why you want help Shampoo with Ranma?"

Tofu considered his reply for a moment. "I do... have feelings for you, but those are because of Cupid. The person I really want to be with is... well..."

"Kasumi," Shampoo concluded for the doctor. He only nodded in confirmation. Shampoo examined the doctor closely for a long moment, considering his motives, before smiling. "That Shampoo can understand. Then Shampoo help doctor with Kasumi too. Is deal?"

"Uh... yes," Tofu said with a eager nod of his own.

* * *

**End Chapter 9**

As I noted in chapter one, all input is welcome here. My ideas on this story are pretty sketchy right now meaning most my time is actually spent figuring out what to write rather than actually writing it, which is not the usual hold up for me.


	11. Chapter 10

Ranma ½

Love Note

Usual disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, any resemblance to Ranma ½ or Death Note is purely intentional, and the rest of that jazz.

For the purposes of this story, any text within single quotes like 'this' is considered a thought.

**Chapter 10**

* * *

It was a typical day in the domain of the love goddesses. It was bright and cheery, and just the perfect temperature. The trees and flowers were in full bloom. It was the perfectly ideal picture. That meant of course it was uninteresting, dull, and in all ways boring since that is exactly the way it was every day. That was not to say however that most actually cared at all. Interesting and exciting generally meant something had gone horribly wrong. The various love goddesses were more than capable of amusing themselves and were much more inclined to seek out said amusement than hoping for it to be thrust on them.

"Full house!" One particular love goddess announced as she laid out her cards on the ground proudly. Those gathered around her tossed their cards to the ground in disgust. "Alright, pay up!" she demanded and was promptly tossed several pieces of clothing.

Coming up on this scene was one particular love goddesses. Unlike those participating in the little game, whose appearance was not particularly notable, at least among love goddess who all seemed to be blessed with great beauty and youth, this particular love goddess looked like she was pushing into her fifties with graying hair and even her wings drooped unusually. "Are you bunch playing strip poker again?" she asked as she approached.

"Yeah," one of the losers replied as she covered herself with crossed arms. "I'm sure she's cheating somehow."

The old one shook her head. "Have you bunch seen Trista abouts lately?"

"Nope," one replied.

"Can't say I have," another said.

"I think I saw her in one of the windows a few days back," a third answered.

"Windows? You mean she's on Earth?" the old one asked.

Smiling, the recent winner turned to the old one. "Didn't you hear? That bubble brain dropped her note and didn't figure out for nearly a week. A human got her hands on it. Been quite the laugh for a while, but it's gotten kinda boring lately as they stopped using it."

"Figures," the old one said with another shake of her head.

"Oh, Sira, one of the bosses was by earlier looking for you," another of the love goddesses said suddenly as she remembered. "No idea what it was about."

"Me?" Sira, the elder love goddesses said with a frown of confusion. "I haven't done anything against the rules lately. Why are they always picking on me?"

"You're easy to pick on?" another suggested in jest.

Yet another laughed. "Yeah, but you have to admit, after what you were doing, it's no surprise they pick on you."

Sighing, Sira turned away. "I better go and check what they want before they decide to make whatever it is worse for me."

The others watched her leave only briefly before returning to their game.

* * *

Back on Earth, just outside the Nekohanten, Maho steadied herself and took a moment to check herself out in her reflect in the glass. Today was the day she was to get herself hired at the Nekohanten. However, she really did not think her chances were good. 'I have no waitress experience and they probably have a few dozen applicants. Don't see how L thinks this is going to go off without a hitch,' she thought before heading inside.

Being a slow part of the day, Maho entered to find the restaurant empty. She quickly caught the voices of two people in the back. Curious, she made her way closer to try and catch the conversation.

"...is still in no mood to have you hanging about, and I need work to get done now," one voice said. Maho recognized it from some of the surveillance tapes as that of Cologne.

"She can't still believe I'm Cupid?" another voice, this time male, asked in shock.

"No, but she is nonetheless still very angry with you. You are fortunate that she is out on a delivery, but I would not advise you be around when she returns," Cologne answered. "Speaking of which, what of your search for Cupid? Have you learned anything?"

There was silence for a moment before the boy responded. "Nothing. I still think Ranma is involved somehow."

"Surprisingly, I must agree, but not for the reasons you no doubt think," Cologne replied. "Son-in-law is as much a victim in this as Shampoo. In fact, given current circumstances, you should be grateful to Son-in-law. So long as he lives and is capable of marrying Shampoo, Amazon law demands that she marry him and no other. With her feelings being as they are..." Cologne hinted, causing the boy to sigh.

"Life isn't fair!" he explained suddenly.

'That must be Mousse,' Maho concluded finally. 'Sounds like he at least believes Shampoo was affected legitimately. Cologne could too, but she might also just be playing along,' she thought then quickly moved back as she heard the pair move for the restaurant area.

Cologne entered first, followed by a sulking Mousse. Both immediately noticed Maho. "My apologies. I was in the back," Cologne said. "Please, take any seat and-"

"Actually," Maho interrupted, "I'm here about the waitress position."

"Waitress? Oh yes," Cologne replied.

On mention of the word, Mousse immediately tensed. However, whatever argument he was about to make was quickly silenced with a look from the elder. As if defeated, Mousse's shoulders quickly sagged, and muttering something Maho could not quite catch, he left the restaurant. "Is he going to be alright?" Maho asked as she watched the boy leave.

"He's fine," Cologne answered. "Now then, a waitress you say. I must warn you, I am not easy on my employees. In fact, you're the first applicant."

"I am?" Maho said in shock. 'So, that's how L knew I had a good shot... wait, not easy... what's exactly does that mean?' "Um... not easy?"

Cologne merely smiled, and if her general improbably old appearance was not enough to make a person feel uncomfortable, the smile would certainly have done the trick. "I think you'll manage. You seem to have had a bit of martial arts training if I am correct."

"Ah... yeah, Capoeira actually. How did you-"

"Capoeira, interesting," Cologne cut off Maho to say, ignoring the question. "That will do. Now, as to pay..."

'I got a real bad feeling about this,' Maho thought as Cologne began detailing the job further.

* * *

Shortly after the school day came to a close, Ukyo arrived home to her restaurant to prepare for her evening opening. Of late she was finding this particular task very annoying. Not so much because of the work involved. No, she could appreciate that. The real annoyance was that like many other things in her life, it was just another bit of time to try and win Ranma's heart lost. Unfortunately, paying the bills took precedence.

This lost time with Ranma was particularly worrisome given her fiance's new interest in the eldest Tendo sister. With Akane, Ukyo felt she had the advantage. With Kasumi, Ukyo was not so sure. Unlike Akane, Kasumi was well skilled in many areas, particularly those that many seemed to value in a wife. It did not help matters that whenever she decided to display it, Kasumi was also quite attractive to the opposite sex. That was more than enough reason to be nervous.

Putting such thoughts aside for the moment, Ukyo went to her grill, and retrieved some cooking implements from below. As she stood back upright, she nearly jumped out of her skin at seeing Kodachi beaming a smile at her, sitting at one of the stools adjacent the grill.

"I thought I banished you from my restaurant!" Ukyo nearly yelled, taking an involuntary step back to give herself more room.

"I thought that was a joke," Kodachi said, still smiling.

"No it wasn't!" Ukyo replied. 'Where the hell is Mousse when I need him,' she thought, although she already knew that Mousse had already mentioned attempting to get his old job back today. "Out!" she finally ordered, pointing to the door.

Kodachi ignored the command. "You're so cute when you're mad," she said, but the complement served only to disgust Ukyo.

"Quit that!" Ukyo ordered. "And stop stalking me!"

"Stalking?! You wound me," Kodachi replied, looking off to the side as if hurt by the label, but received a quick whack to the head with Ukyo's battle spatula. "Ow!" Kodachi exclaimed as she withdrew a safe distance.

Ukyo pointed her weapon threateningly at Kodachi. "Don't pull that sympathetic game with me. I'm not Ranma. I don't fall for that BS. Besides, don't you realize that this is all just due to Cupid? You're just being manipulated."

To Ukyo's surprise, Kodachi nodded. "Of course I realize that my Goddess Cupid is the cause. I'm no fool. But, I have never felt feelings like this before, and even now I know this is my true path to happiness," Kodachi replied, her smile returning. "In fact, I'm glad she did it. I could well have been living out my life in denial."

"Denial?" Ukyo repeated in confusion. "What the heck are you babbling about? What do you mean you never felt like this before? Weren't you in love with Ranma?"

Kodachi looked thoughtful. "I thought I was, but I was wrong. He was amusing enough, but to be perfectly truthful I never felt this way towards him."

'Great, she's a full blown lesbian,' Ukyo thought with a cringe, but quickly shook her head to banish the thought, and the imagery it was bringing up. "Fine, fine, never mind that! It doesn't matter anyway. I'm not your girlfriend, and I'm not going to be your girlfriend, so get over it already!"

"Yes, you still seem to be interested in Ranma, despite how poorly he treats you."

Ukyo darkened. "Look, sugar, you're already well past my tolerance point, don't make it worse. Ranma and I are going to be married some day. It's just a matter of time," Ukyo said, but Kodachi only shook her head sadly. "What?"

"It seems denial is not a trait limited to me," Kodachi replied, only further angering Ukyo. However, before Ukyo started considering an all out brawl, which would no doubt cause considerable damage to the facilities, Kodachi changed approaches. "Let's try something else. I'll prove my worth to you. Unlike that lout Ranma, ask anything of me and it will be done."

"Get lost!"

"Anything but that," Kodachi quickly amended. Ukyo sighed. "Come now, Ukyo, be reasonable."

Her patience used up, Ukyo jumped over the grill and closed in on Kodachi. In turn Kodachi retreated, putting a table between herself and Ukyo. After several attempts to close on her, and Kodachi dodging away to another spot, Ukyo growled. "You're really getting on my nerves, you know that," Ukyo said as she reconsidered her battle plan.

"All I ask is that you make a request. A genuine one," Kodachi said. "Just allow me the chance to prove myself."

Ukyo paused and sighed out her frustrations. "Fine, but it won't change a thing." Ukyo considered for a moment, then smiled. "Okay, I got the perfect thing."

"What is it?" Kodachi asked eagerly.

"Seek therapy," Ukyo replied with a smile of her own.

Kodachi withdrew. "What?"

"You heard me. Go find yourself a good psychiatrist. You're in serious need of it."

Kodachi smiled and waved off the suggestion. "Nonsense, I'm perfectly fine."

"You're nuts!" Ukyo exclaimed, causing Kodachi to cringe, but Ukyo didn't relent. "Crazy! Loony! Completely off your rocker and playing with half a deck if that! Frankly, even a good doctor probably can't help, but it certainly couldn't hurt." Finished with her outburst, Ukyo noticed that Kodachi seemed honestly deflated a bit. 'I suppose I could have been a little less blunt, but-'

"Alright," Kodachi said suddenly, cutting off Ukyo's thought.

"What?" Ukyo asked in surprise.

Kodachi rebuilt her demeanor and looked at Ukyo with determination. "I said alright. I'll do as you request. It will only prove that I'm perfectly fine, but if that's what you want, then I'll do it."

Ukyo was momentarily surprised, but quickly replaced the feeling with suspicion. "Yeah right, sugar. I'll believe it when I see it. I know how you try to dodge your promises, and twist the rules to your liking. That won't work with me."

"That was the past," Kodachi said in dismissal and finally started moving to the door. "For you, I will do this, however pointless it might be." With those final words, Kodachi left, and Ukyo could finally let out a huge sigh of relief.

'Maybe if I'm really lucky they'll commit her,' Ukyo thought and then, after taking a few moments to reset her calm, returned to the work.

* * *

'How could things have gotten this bad?' Mousse asked himself as he trudged through the streets of Nerima. Just a short few weeks previous he was in heaven. Shampoo had returned from a delivery, and suddenly dragged Mousse into the backroom where she had kissed him. Pure bliss is the only way Mousse knew how to describe it. After having experienced it, Mousse knew for sure that something was wrong with Ranma. No man could possibly not want Shampoo after being the recipient of her kiss. In fact, it was so heavenly that Mousse could think of little else. She had said something to him at the time, but he was still so lost in the moment that he completely missed it.

Unfortunately, that startling turn of events quickly turned sour. Despite the pure desire expressed in that first kiss, it was as if someone had sucked all that desire out of Shampoo over the course of the coming days. Even by the end of the day she was avoiding him, and not much later Shampoo was ready to take his head. It was only natural to suspect Ranma was somehow involved and Mousse had retreated from the Nekohanten to the Tendos to get some answers, even if it meant beating Saotome to within an inch of his life. Sadly for Mousse, like usual, Ranma proved more than a match for him, and left Mousse beaten out in the yard to be cared for by Akane. Then came the next disaster.

He had not noticed the exact moment it happened, but instead of her usual friendly, but slightly disapproving air, Akane suddenly went all nervous and shy on him. Thinking her not quite well, or perhaps knowing something of what happened to Shampoo, Mousse had questioned her, and found her blushing at his attention. Mousse was no fool, and had started to wonder if he had somehow become afflicted with some love inducing magic. However, when he learned of Kodachi's sudden feelings for Ukyo it became clear that this mess extended well beyond him alone.

Now, the latest disaster to add to this was Shampoo's new, and mutually shared, interest in the doctor. When Mousse had found out, anger had overwhelmed him and he had confronted the doctor. His results were not much better than he had suffered at Ranma's hands, although the doctor was kind enough to just temporarily paralyze him. Even worse, despite over a week having gone by, there was none of the same signs of that love diminishing as Shampoo had shown with him. Plus, with Cologne hiring on a new waitress, his job at the Nekohanten was effectively gone, so he had no easy access to Shampoo.

'I have to find this Cupid and fast, before things get any worse!' Mousse thought with determination. 'Whoever he is, I'll make him undo this whole mess. Why couldn't he just stay out of it? Akane was surely going to get together with Ranma given time. And then, me and Shampoo... Now... ugh!' Mousse let out a mental and verbal sigh at the situation and paused to take in his surroundings before heading back over to Ukyo's. As he did so, he noticed a slightly familiar figure sitting on a bench nearby. Adjusting his glasses he realized said figure was Akane Tendo. Mousse checked the time, and looked back at Akane curiously. 'It's just after school. Akane usually goes home with Ranma, doesn't she? She couldn't have known I was going to be here, and besides she doesn't even seem to have noticed me.'

A combination of worry and curiosity getting the better of him, Mousse headed over. His approach did not go unnoticed, and Akane started at seeing him.

"Uh, Mousse, what are you doing here?" she asked, looking away suddenly.

Mousse sat down next to her. "I was just at the Nekohanten trying to get my job back, but someone else already got hired."

"So... Shampoo isn't-"

"No, she's still mad at me, but I had to try. What about you? Shouldn't you be home?"

Akane hung her head. "To be honest, I don't want to go home," she said somberly before switching to a more angry air. "That... jerk Ranma, I'm always seeing him and Kasumi... ooo, I know it's Cupid's fault, but I can't help but be angry." Akane paused and shook her head, before putting on a fake smile. "I'll be fine. How about you?"

Unlike Akane, Mousse made no attempt to mask his inner frustrations. "When I find Cupid, I'm going to kill him!"

"I want to give him a good thrashing myself," Akane unexpectedly added. "I guess you heard about Shampoo and Tofu?" Akane asked, and a low growl from Mousse was all the answer she needed. "Well, it's not like... I mean... oh forget it." Once more Akane paused, searching for a topic to fill the moment, and perhaps lighten Mousse's mood. "Why don't you challenge her to a fight?" Akane suddenly suggested, gaining Mousse's full attention. Before he could respond, Akane continued. "Now, I personally think you deserve far better, but if you really want to be with her... I'm sure you could beat her. Sure, she's pretty tough, but I've seen you fight Ranma and I bet if you tried hard-"

"No, I couldn't," Mousse said with a shake of his head.

"I know you like her, but if that's the only way to impress her-"

"You don't understand," Mousse cut in to say. Looking around quickly to confirm they were alone, and lowering his voice slightly, he explained. "I tried that already."

"And she beat you?" Akane asked but to her shock got a shake of the head in response. "You won?!"

Mousse quickly quieted Akane. "Yes, but don't go spreading that around. She was furious with me after that. She didn't talk to me for nearly six months."

"What?!" Akane exclaimed in confusion. "Wait, when did this happen? Doesn't the law say she has to marry you if you beat her?"

Mousse shook his head. "That law is only for outsiders. It doesn't apply to village men like me. She can choose to marry me, but the law doesn't matter in that case," he explained. "As for when, it was about two years ago."

"I still don't understand, I thought she liked strong men?" Akane asked and gained another shake of the head.

"I thought so too, but after that fight... which is why I'm sure Ranma has done something to her. There is no way she'd be this happy about him beating her when she was angry at me for doing the same thing. Something just doesn't add up."

Akane looked away. "Come to think of it, the way Ranma beat her the first time was rather... accidental," she thought aloud before going wide eyed as a disturbing conclusion hit her. "Maybe Ranma is right and Cupid has been doing this sort of thing all along."

"What?" Mousse said in surprise, gaining back Akane's attention. "Do you mean the reason Shampoo wants to marry Ranma is because of Cupid too?" he asked.

"Uh... well, I can't be sure of course."

Mousse stood up suddenly. "But you're right, it fits perfectly. That means if I do find this Cupid and get him to reverse all of this, Shampoo will finally see that womanizer Ranma for who he truly is!" Clenching his fist tightly in front of him, Mousse looked off at the horizon with new found determination. Unfortunately for him, it lasted only seconds before reality set back in. "But I have no idea how to find him," he said in sudden despair. Head slumped, Mousse dropped back onto the bench.

At his side, Akane could only give him a sympathetic nod. "Yeah. And even if we do eventually find him, the damage could be done."

"Hmh?" Mousse murmured, looking up at Akane.

"I mean... I'm sure Shampoo will..." Akane tried to say, but quickly gave up and hung her own head. "The way things are going, Ranma and I..." she alluded.

Mousse watched Akane for a moment, considering this. 'This could be very bad. Even if I do find Cupid and reverse all of this, if Ranma and Akane break up... And that stupid law is still in effect over Shampoo so even if she doesn't love Ranma she'll still have to marry him. If Akane is out of the picture... that's not good.' Regaining some of his spirit, Mousse sat up straight, pondering a plan. 'All isn't lost. All I need to do is get Akane and Ranma back together. Of course, that idiot is in love with Kasumi now, and Akane isn't exactly the romantic sort... how to... hmm... but Ranma is the jealous sort. He always comes running when Akane is involved.' Smiling briefly to himself, Mousse's plan was set. Startling Akane, he grabbed her by the shoulders to gain her attention. "Akane, I can help you!"

"Uh... what?" Akane blurt out, blushing furiously at the contact.

"It's simple. We'll do exactly what Cupid expects. We'll start seeing each other."

"What?" Akane once more exclaimed, even more red.

"Don't you see? You know how Ranma is. If you start seeing me, he'll have to take notice."

Akane looked away. "I'm not so sure..."

"Trust me, Akane Tendo. If there is one thing I know about Ranma Saotome is that he will never let someone take a girl from him."

Akane looked at Mousse in uncertainty, but after a few seconds of thought nodded. "I suppose that might work, but... but, aren't we forgetting about Cupid?" she asked in desperation to switch topics.

Finally releasing her, Mousse once more stood up. "I haven't forgotten about him," he said darkly. "But, right now it's all we can to do keep a look out for a clue. Ukyo and I are already pooling our efforts, so if you help too, maybe then we'll catch him in a slip up."

"Maybe we should try and find that L person. He might know something too," Akane suggested while hiding her face from view.

Mousse blinked at the suggestion and smiled. "Of course, why didn't I think of that? If we team up with L, we'll definitely find Cupid... Hmm, but how do we contact L? The police are off the case now and he hasn't said anything lately. He might not even be on the case anymore."

"We could still try contacting the police. They probably have some way of contacting him," Akane said, looking back at Mousse, having finally reset her composure.

Mousse nodded. "Right, that could work. It's decided then. I'll see you tomorrow after school, Akane."

Without further word, Mousse suddenly left, leaving Akane in a bit of a lurch. 'I guess he is right that Ranma does get jealous pretty easy, but is this really the best way...?' she asked herself, then frowned. 'Who cares! Ranma gets to see Kasumi all the time, and all I have been able to do is watch him. Well, no more! Fair is fair after all. Now he'll get to feel what it's like.' Nodding to herself, Akane finally stood up and headed home.

* * *

At the center of the love goddess domain was a great castle which acted as home for the Great Queen of Love, the ruler of all within the domain. Despite the prominence of the building and the person within, it was not a place of much activity. In fact, generally those called here were in big trouble. Sira knew this all too well, having been called here twice before, and neither time was a pleasant experience. Today, after having found one of the Queen's lieutenants, she had received her third summons.

'I haven't done anything wrong. This is not fair! She's just picking on me now,' Sira thought as she entered, measuring her pace to be as slow as possible without seeming as such. 'This can't be good.'

After several minutes past, Sira finally arrived at the great chamber at the center of the castle. Within a great bed of flowers and other plants, all surrounding a large throne. The Queen was not sitting, however, and was instead apparently tending to the flowers. Like all love goddess she was blessed with great beauty, but unlike the others, hers seemed to change depending on the person looking at her as everyone described her quite differently. To Sira her hair appeared to be made of sparkling golden threads, and skin was perfectly tanned. Unlike the others, the Queen felt no need for clothing, and displayed the fullness of her body for all to see, and as near as Sira could tell, it was just as perfect as her face. Even for a goddess of love, looking upon the Queen could be an overwhelming experience.

"Sira," the Queen greeted after a few seconds. "I've been looking for you."

Sira shook her head, and looked away from the Queen, trying to collect her thought. "I don't know what you've been told, but I haven't done anything. I've been following the rules to the-"

"Yes, I know," the Queen said calmly, still regarding her plants. "You're not in trouble. In fact, I have a task for you. Complete it well, and I may be inclined to reverse your previous punishments."

"What?" Sira asked with renewed interest, daring to look back.

"What I'm going to tell you cannot be said to anyone else. This is an issue of the absolutely highest importance, not just to us love goddesses, but to the entire pantheon. A note has failed."

"Failed?"

"Yes. Worse, no known rule was broken in the process. This means someone has found a loophole. That's very troubling for all of us."

Sira blinked as she considered this. "This has something to do with Trista, doesn't it?"

The Queen smiled. "Very astute. I need you to go to Earth and investigate. I'll give you all the necessary information, but you cannot speak of this to anyone. Simply find out what happened and return."

"But, your highness, we're not allowed on Earth."

"True, under normal circumstances, but this is critical. On my throne is a new love note. Take it, and ensure it gets into a human's hands. While they have it, you will be allowed to remain. It can't just be just any human though. It will have to be someone close to the issue."

"How am I supposed to pick one? If I deliberately-"

The Queen paused in thought, but then smiled as she looked at Sira. "You've proven to be a smart one, Sira, you'll think of something. However, I must ask that you not tell Trista anything of this as you're likely to run into her. If word of this got out, it could be disastrous. Oh, and I will be watching you. Don't think to abuse the power that you might discover either."

Sira quickly waved her hands in front of her defensively. "I won't, I won't."

"Good. Now then, as to the details. It seems a young woman on Earth by the name of Shan Pu has proven to be somehow resistant to the note's power. You have to find out why."

"Shan Pu?" Sira repeated in some shock, causing the Queen to smile.

"I'd thought that name would ring a bell."

* * *

**End Chapter 10**

Yeah, I know I'm slow. Gaming, work, but mostly general laziness on my part are to blame.

As I noted in chapter one, all input is welcome here. My ideas on this story are pretty sketchy right now meaning most my time is actually spent figuring out what to write rather than actually writing it, which is not the usual hold up for me. In particular, I'd like some suggestions as to who Sira can drop her note on. I'm not looking for just a name, as I can come up with lots of names, but ideas with that name. I got one person in mind, but ideas around said person are rather thin right now.


	12. Chapter 11

Ranma ½

Love Note

Usual disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, any resemblance to Ranma ½ or Death Note is purely intentional, and the rest of that jazz.

For the purposes of this story, any text within single quotes like 'this' is considered a thought.

You'll probably notice I've dropped line breaks. That is because they are SOOOOOO broken in most every editor. I'm sick of hacking around them, I don't know why the F this site recommends them, so they are going away. They are just not worth the frustration.

**Chapter 11**

Maho entered L's apartment, nearly wincing at every movement. She was well past what could be rightfully called exhaustion, and right now wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed. However, duty demanded she report in.

Walking into the main room, she found L, as usual, in front of a set of monitors. Most were replaying old tapes, or television programs, while several others were locked on long distances shots of the Tendo residence. Without looking away from the screen, he greeted her, "Any news?"

Maho frowned at his lack of concern over her welfare, but had already given up on any desire to complain about such over the past week. Instead she dropped herself onto the couch and simply replied, "Nothing more than last time."

"Not unexpected," L replied. "I've been running an analysis, based on your observed response time to delivery orders, the Nekohanten's phone records and known Cupid activity."

"And?"

"No correlation," L answered.

"So... that's means Shampoo is neither out on deliveries, nor at the restaurant with any pattern in relation to the Cupid incidents."

"Correct."

"We do know Cupid can alter the time of events, however," Maho pointed out.

L nodded. "True, but unlikely. Cupid had little reason to hide the timing of events before I made my broadcast. Even when I restricted the analysis to events before that date, there remained no correlation," he explained. "Of course, we can not fully exclude her, but the chances of her being our Cupid have diminished."

Maho sighed heavily. "You mean I've been going through all this torture for nothing?"

Finally L glanced back. "Not at all. We still have yet to determine why exactly Shan Pu is faking her love for the doctor."

"If I were her, I'd be worried that I'd be the next target on Cupid's list. After all, this is the second time Cupid has affected her. She probably just wants to avoid a repeat of Mousse."

L pondered this for a moment, then returned to the monitors. Grabbing a sugar cube from a nearby dish, he placed it in his mouth and let it dissolve before speaking. "It may just be that simple. One does wonder though, why didn't Cupid just make her fall in love with him."

"Why didn't Cupid make Ukyo love Kodachi back? Who the heck knows!" Maho replied tiredly.

L once more glanced back. "Still working you pretty hard I see."

'Now he takes an interest,' Maho thought in annoyance, but decided to simply nod.

At that moment, from the corner of his eye, L caught sight of his target on the monitor and quickly snapped his attention back to the screen. However, Kasumi's appearance was brief, merely bringing some tea to her father and Mr. Saotome, before leaving view, hidden once more within the building. Undaunted, L grabbed another sugar cube and consumed it before speaking. "Ke Lun is quite a demanding employer. However, you should feel at least some gratitude. I have noticed a significant improvement in your reaction times, and physical capacities since beginning work there."

"What?" Maho asked in surprised.

"Yes. You shouldn't be surprised. She uses the work as a disguised method of training. Unusual, but certainly not unheard of."

Maho suddenly found herself looking herself over, but quickly realized that such an examination would reveal nothing. 'Come to think of it, the first few days were not nearly as difficult as the most recent, yet I feel the same level of pressure trying to do them,' she thought. After a moment, she shook away the thought and turned to other matters. "So now what?"

"For the moment, you will continue your observations. A more direct approach may soon be required, but not just yet. As for me, my observations of Kasumi Tendo have led me to an ideal time to confront her."

"Confront her?" Maho echoed in surprise. "You're really planning to talk to her, face to face?"

"A necessity. I must gauge her reaction. With Cupid inactive, and so little info coming in from our surveillance of their home, it is the most reasonable approach."

"And if she is Cupid? She'll now know your face," she pointed out.

L nodded. "True, but not my name. She does require both. After all, Maho, have you not been revealing yourself this past while? If Cupid is particularly on her guard, she may have already noticed your presence as peculiar. You are taking no less a risk than I."

Maho frowned, but had to accept his reasoning. "Just... be careful. If someone got to me, I don't know your name. Same can't be said in reverse."

"A fact I am all too aware of," L replied. "That is all for the day. You should get some rest."

XXXXX

L was more correct that he was aware. At that very moment, standing next to the Tendo phone, Nabiki was waiting for a call she had every suspicion would not come.

It had taken her several days, and numerous discrete and indirect inquires, but she had finally learned the name of the new waitress at the Nekohanten. Her appearance on the scene was just too suspicious for Nabiki's liking, and with the recent discovery of surveillance equipment throughout Furinkan High, Nabiki was worried.

About that moment, Kasumi came out from the kitchen and spotted Nabiki. "Waiting for a call?" Kasumi asked, naive to Nabiki true intentions.

"In a manner of speaking. Two more minutes," Nabiki replied.

Kasumi blinked in confusion at the unusual reply, as Trista, the angel like Goddess of Love floated into the hallway and into view, also curiously looking at Nabiki. After a few seconds, the meaning of Nabiki's statement hit her older sister. "Nabiki, what did you do?"

"Not now, Kasumi," Nabiki replied, but Kasumi pressed on, now whispering.

"I thought we agreed not to use the note?"

"This is important, and you're still not mad about Tofu, are you?"

"I am not mad," Kasumi insisted, although a stifled laugh from Trista confirmed for her that she was not very convincing. "It is just..."

"Look, I told you, he stuck out like a sore thumb. Even Akane was getting suspicious. I had to cover it up. If Akane could notice it, you know L could. I had to make it look natural."

Kasumi frowned a little before sighing in acceptance of Nabiki's logic. "Still, now what are you doing?"

"There is a new woman working at the Nekohanten. I want to make sure she is who she says she is."

"Why wouldn't she be?" Kasumi asked, to which Nabiki just shook her head and looked at her watch. The appointed time passed, causing her to frown.

"Damn it," Nabiki finally cursed after another 30 seconds passed with no call. "I knew it! I knew it!"

"Knew what?" Kasumi asked in confusion, as Nabiki grabbed her by the arm and started dragging her upstairs. "Where we going?"

"Just come on," Nabiki said, and pulled Kasumi into her room and closed the door. "That woman is working for L, I'm sure of it. Hell, she might even be L."

"Why would you say that?" Kasumi asked, seemingly unfazed by the information.

"I wrote her name, well, the fake name she is giving everyone, in the note, and commanded her to call me at precisely 6:30 pm. No call."

"And if she did wouldn't that be a bit dangerous?" Trista pointed out, but Nabiki waved off the concern.

"Who cares, she didn't call, and besides she'd just think it was a wrong number anyway."

Trista shrugged. "Just saying, if that was her real name and L was-"

"She didn't call!" Nabiki nearly yelled in frustration. "Look, this is serious. A woman just conveniently starts working at the Nekohanten with a false name, and they just conveniently find all kinds of cameras and mics at Furinkan... L is obviously here looking for us!"

"Maybe you misspelled her name," Kasumi suggested with a calm smile, which Nabiki took anything but calmly.

Frustrated, Nabiki rushed to her own closet, cleared the floor of several bags appropriately placed to conceal a loose floor board, a victim of earlier excitement at the Tendo home. Removing it, Nabiki reached under the floor and retrieved the Love Note from where it had been hidden. Returning to Kasumi, she went to the right page and thrust it into Kasumi's face. "There, see, Maho Nakako, perfectly spelled... And don't even start suggesting I heard it wrong. I had several people confirm it," Nabiki said, cutting off a suggestion she just knew Kasumi would make next.

"I think you need to calm down, Nabiki," Kasumi suggested instead, causing her younger sister to toss up her arms in even further frustration.

After pacing back and forth for several seconds to consider a different approach, Nabiki spoke. "Kasumi, this is serious. L is in Nerima, and he's practically right on top of us. For all we know he could be watching this... house... oh damn..." Nabiki said, a sinking feeling hitting her. Pointing to Trista, she quickly commanded, "You, go look through the walls and ceiling and make sure there is nothing electronic in there!"

"Why should I?" Trista complained, crossing her arms defiantly. "I'm not your servant!"

"If you don't do it, I will make sure you won't get a single cookie for the rest of your stay!" Nabiki threatened, causing Trista to cringe.

"Okay, fine!" Trista replied in defeat and began looking about the room. A minute passed before she returned and shook her head. "Nope, just the usual insulation and wiring and such. Nothing that shouldn't be there."

"You sure?"

"Yes I'm sure!" Trista complained.

"Check the rest of the house!" Nabiki ordered, quickly adding, "NOW!" when Trista opened her mouth to argue. Defeated, the Love Goddess left through the wall.

"Nabiki, I think you're getting too worked up about all this."

Nabiki groaned. "You're not getting worked up enough!" she accused, but relented a little and sat down on her bed. "This is very bad, Kasumi. If this L has followed us this far, he could very well figure out it is us. This 'Maho' is probably investigating Shampoo, but there could be somebody investigating us too. In fact, with all the cameras and such at Furinkan, I would say that is very likely since Shampoo doesn't go to school. We have to be extra careful from now on."

Kasumi smiled reassuringly at Nabiki and asked, "So then, what do we do?"

Nabiki considered but shook her head. "Nothing for now. Stick to the plan. Cupid stays silent. Maybe with some luck we'll be able to get L's name and face, but so far he's been playing it very smart. I doubt he'll be foolish enough to let us get that. Otherwise, we just have to hope he loses interest eventually."

At that moment, Trista returned, but shook her head. "Nothing."

"That's something at least," Nabiki said with some renewed calm.

Finally Kasumi nodded, although she could not fully hide her disappointment. The use of the note had become something of a routine for her, and having been denied it she was coming to miss it. "I guess you can keep the note then," she said reluctantly.

"Yeah, better to keep it here anyway. Much better hidden," Nabiki replied and looked at Kasumi who seemed to be lost in thought. "Something wrong?"

"Uh... no..." Kasumi said, now looking around her. "I think I forgot something."

"Probably dinner actually. I think you were cooking," Nabiki realized, causing Kasumi to start.

"Oh dear," Kasumi said in a start, and rushed from the room, causing Nabiki to shake her head in disbelief.

"She's more worried about dinner than being thrown in jail," Nabiki muttered before noticing Trista looking at her curiously. "What? Aren't you supposed to be following Kasumi?" Nabiki asked.

"I follow the owner of the note," Trista replied. "Since she said you can keep it, you're the new owner."

Nabiki blinked in surprise. "Wait, just like that?"

"Yep, nothing fancy needed to transfer ownership."

"But before-"

"Before she just said you could hold it for her. That's like borrowing, not a transfer of ownership. This time she said you can keep it with no conditions."

Nabiki frowned. 'Great, now she's going to be trying to find my true love. Like I need that...' Nabiki thought as she put the note back in its hiding spot. "Wait, I seem to recall Kasumi mentioning something about giving up the note."

"Yes, the previous owner loses all memory of it, and all benefits of previously owning it, so no Love Goddess eyes, nor the ability to see the Love Goddess that formerly owned it," Trista recited, then noticed Nabiki's annoyance at hearing this. "What? I didn't make the rules."

"You mean, just now, she just forgot everything about the Love Note?"

"Yep, at least until she touches it again," the Love Goddess replied. "Won't be able to see me either."

Nabiki growled in annoyance, holding her head. "Wonderful... wait," Nabiki said, looking up with new optimism. "That might actually be a good thing... Yeah, now she can't mess up. Yeah... yeah, that's good. Out of curiosity, what will she remember instead?"

Trista shrugged. "Heck if I know. Love Notes getting into the hands of humans isn't exactly a common occurrence."

"And even if you did hear, you probably forgot," Nabiki added, to which Trista could only reluctantly nod. "Well, with some luck it is a good clean sweep."

XXXXX

The next day, with the day off from school, Akane found herself doing something that a couple weeks ago she would never have considered, dating Mousse. Of course, Mousse was treating this as little more than a facade to trick Ranma, but for Akane it felt far more significant. 'I still can't believe I'm doing this,' she thought as slowly picked away at her lunch.

The pair were at one of the local restaurants. Nothing overly fancy. In fact, now that she thought about it, Ranma and her had come to this particular restaurant themselves previously. Were one to suggest those were dates, no doubt both parties would have vehemently denied it at the time, but now it gave Akane cause to wonder about it. However, such considerations were of low importance at that moment as her current companion was Mousse.

"I tried the police, the local news... even tried contacting that ICPO that they talked about, but no luck," Mousse said as he ate.

"No luck?" Akane echoed in confusion, having missed what he had been saying while lost in thought.

"About finding L, remember?" Mousse replied, causing Akane in understanding.

"Oh, right, yes, I remember," Akane replied quickly, then returned to focusing on her food.

"It seems none of them know how to contact him. Best I could get out of any of them was that he usually contacts them."

"Maybe he gave up," Akane suggested, but Mousse shook his head.

"I don't think so. I did some other investigating and everything I could find on him says he's very persistent."

Akane mutely nodded, not truly caring about that topic. 'Why do I feel so torn up inside? All we're doing is eating lunch! Its not like... This is-' Akane thought, but cut herself short when a glance out the window caught sight of something very distinct. Just for an instant, she saw Ranma peering in from a bench on the opposite side of the road. At seeing Akane notice him, he quickly turned around and tried to remain inconspicuous, but it was pointless.

Seeing her fiance was enough to change the direction of her thoughts, and a certain sense of gratification arose in her. 'Guess Mousse was right, that stupid jerk is jealous,' she thought as she looked away. She had actually expected as much earlier when she had announced that she was going to meet Mousse here, but was beginning to have her doubts. Now with him showing up, her earlier confidence was restored. 'Time for some payback.'

XXXXX

Outside the restaurant, Ranma was chiding himself for being so obvious. 'She's just trying to make me jealous is all,' Ranma correctly concluded, but, despite the accuracy of his assumption, he could not will himself to leave. Once more, Ranma took a peek across the way at the couple inside, and saw Akane now seemingly hanging on Mousse's every word. 'Oh, she's just rubbing it in now,' he thought angrily as he turned away.

"Airen!"

'Oh man!' Ranma managed to think just before being bowled over by a leaping hug from Shampoo. As was usual for her, with Ranma pinned below her, Shampoo took full advantage of the moment to enjoy the contact. "Hey Shampoo," Ranma reluctantly greeted.

"Shampoo miss Ranma," the Amazon gushed, but Ranma only sighed.

"Yeah, yeah..." he droned. Unexpectedly, his lack of interest seemed to have an affect, as Shampoo paused, then withdrew to a sitting position, releasing Ranma. Were his current situation different, Ranma might have taken particular notice of this. However, it was as it was, and he paid it little mind, just getting back to his feet.

Returning his attention to Akane, he frowned at seeing her conversing with Mousse. 'Ooo, I sooo want to go in there,' Ranma thought as he continued to stew.

"Akane date Mousse now?" Shampoo asked as she too took notice, but Ranma did not reply. "Shampoo think is good. Think Akane and Mousse deserve each other."

"Aren't you dating Dr. Tofu?" Ranma replied without thinking. Again, were the situation different, he probably would have realized that said comment would probably net him a rather undesirable reaction, but once again he did not think of this, nor concern himself that Shampoo did not react in such a manner. In fact, behind him, Shampoo deflated at the question.

Another minute went by in silence as Shampoo fought a little war with herself. She had been long practicing this moment in her mind, and Ranma in the course of just a few seconds had completely destroyed those plans with his unaccounted for reactions. That, of course, did not change her goal here, but she was debating between strategic retreat, open frustration, or going all in.

'This whole idea of Tofu's is stupid!' she declared in her mind as she nearly submitted to the retreat option, but stopped herself. She looked at Ranma's back for several seconds, gathering herself, and laying out fresh plans. 'I'd sooner face a screaming horde of berserkers than this,' she thought, took in a breath and prepared to speak. "Ranma, Shampoo want-"

"Let's go in," Ranma suddenly cut in to say, grabbing Shampoo by the wrist.

Once more, Shampoo's entire plan of attack was derailed. "Wha-" she started to say, but Ranma once more cut her off as he started to pull Shampoo along behind him.

"Come on," Ranma prompted as he marched ahead. Were Shampoo able to peak into his mind, his plan of action was all too obvious. For the moment, however, she was too mixed up in her own thoughts to piece it together.

XXXXX

Inside the restaurant, Akane took a peak outside to see Ranma had disappeared. Before she could wonder about this, she heard the restaurant door open and spotted Ranma enter, towing Shampoo behind him. In an all too obvious gesture, he pulled Shampoo next to him.

Akane's reaction was predictably bad. She tensed and glared at the couple. "Why that..." she could not help to mutter.

This was enough to get Mousse to turn and likewise notice the pair. Making Akane's reaction seem subdued, Mousse jumped to his feet and yelled, "What are you doing with Shampoo, Saotome?"

Ranma smirked. "Oh, Mousse, hardly noticed you there," he taunted and predictably Mousse marched over.

Akane sighed and covered her face with her hand. "That idiot," she mumbled, not sure if she was referring to Ranma or Mousse.

Mousse and Ranma were soon exchanging barbs, and as usual Mousse was taking the worst of it. Akane uncovered her face just in time to see the Amazon male tense for a fight. She debated intervening, but quickly concluded such was already pointless. Sure enough, Mousse took a swing at Ranma.

The ensuing fight was brief. As expected, Ranma laid Mousse out, but not before several tables and chairs became unfortunate victims of the battle. Frowning, Akane got to her feet and stalked over to Ranma.

"You just had to start a fight, didn't you?" Akane accused.

"Oh, don't go playing innocent, Akane," Ranma shot back. "We both know what you were trying to pull here."

"What I was trying to pull?" Akane echoed in outrage.

"Yeah!" Ranma quickly countered.

XXXXX

Unnoticed, Shampoo was already back outside and stomping off. She did not even pause at the outraged yell of Akane saying, "Ranma!" Nor did she stop when it was followed by said martial artist being knocked through the roof and into the stratosphere.

'Stupid...' she thought to herself angrily. 'This is a total waste of time,' she continued, but quickly realized that she was using this simply as an excuse. Her angry march soon slowed as she considered. There were a thousand different reasons she played with to give up on this task, but she kept coming back to, 'What if Tofu is right?' Finally, with a defeated sigh, Shampoo looked back, made a rough computation, and jumped to the nearest rooftop to make her way to Ranma's likely landing spot.

XXXXX

Across town a ways, Kasumi was going about the shopping for the coming days. Having finished her regular store purchases, she was now out checking in with her preferred street vendors.

"Hello Mr. Itsuki," Kasumi greeted as she approached her favored fruit vendor.

"Ah Kasumi, good afternoon," he greeted in kind. "Got some good apples in this morning," he suggested.

Kasumi nodded and smiled before looking over the wares.

Across the street, sitting in his usual peculiar manner on a bench, L watched this intently before popping up to his feet and making his way over. He stopped at Itsuki's stand and mirroring Kasumi, began looking over the goods. After a moment, Kasumi took notice of him and gave him a friendly smile.

Tapping his lips in consideration as he regarded the fruits, L finally looked to Kasumi and asked, "Which would you say is the sweetest?"

"Sweetest?" Kasumi echoed before looking over the fruits. "The watermelon is fairly sweet," she suggested.

L looked to the watermelon, and after a moment examining those available, he picked one up and began examining it more intently. Kasumi watched curiously as he raised it over his head, squeezed, shook, knocked, and smelled the fruit before he finally nodded in approval. "This will do," he said and paid Itsuki. As the fruit salesman took his money, L commented, "I have heard there has been a fair bit of Cupid activity in this area."

"Cupid? Well, I suppose some say that," Itsuki replied.

It was no coincidence that L had chosen this as the moment to meet Kasumi. With his chief suspect in mind, he had analyzed her daily life meticulously, looking for any interesting anomalies. Itsuki soon stood out as someone who had suddenly gained himself a new love interest. It predated all other likely Cupid activity, making L suspicious that it could well be Cupid's very first action. To confront her in such company was ideal. 'Now, how will you react?' L wondered.

"Cupid?" Kasumi echoed in thought before brightening. "Mr. Itsuki met a nice young lady just a while ago," she said with a smile.

Itsuki laughed nervously. "Well, yes, but that was before this whole business with Cupid even started."

"Interesting," L commented, examining Kasumi out of the corner of his eye. There was not the slightest hint of nervousness for the girl, just her usual cheerful demeanor. "Have you considered that Cupid may have been using her power before using it on those on television?"

"Uh, well, no, but I suppose..." Itsuki conceded.

"You think so?" Kasumi asked. "That makes a lot of sense. Even poor Ranma and Akane seem to have been affected and that was before the incidents on TV," she thought aloud.

L found it difficult to keep a neutral face hearing this. 'Why would she so easily give up this information? Is she taunting me?' he wondered.

"Are you interested in Cupid, Mr...?" Kasumi asked.

"Ryuzaki," L replied. "And, I am very interested in Cupid. In fact, I am here investigating her."

Itsuki laughed. "Who do you think you are, L?"

Watching Kasumi intently, L replied, "Yes, because I am L."

Itsuki tensed at hearing this, while Kasumi merely blinked in surprise. "What kind of game are you playing?" Itsuki asked after a second. "Someone like you as a world famous super detective, preposterous!" he said with a laugh.

"Actually, he is just as I imagined him," Kasumi said with a bright smile that shocked Itsuki into silence and gave even L pause.

"Just as you imagined me?" L echoed skeptically.

"Why yes. L must be very reclusive and intelligent of course. Such would lead to some very odd personal habits, don't you think?" Kasumi explained.

L nodded. "An interesting observation," he said.

Before the conversation could go any further, Kasumi's attention suddenly shifted, her eyes darting skyward. L followed Kasumi's look, but before he could quite catch what it was, he felt a tug on the fabric of his sleeve. Instinctively sensing a warning in the gesture, reflex took over and he moved with the tug, looking to see it had been Kasumi. Just as he began to ponder this something slammed into the ground where he had been just the moment previous.

"Oh dear, seems Akane and Ranma have been fighting again," Kasumi observed as Ranma staggered from the resulting dust cloud.

"Stupid... uncute... violent..." Ranma muttered before taking in his surroundings. At seeing Kasumi, his angry demeanor quickly shifted to a nervous one. "Uh, Kasumi, what are you doing here?"

"Just shopping," Kasumi answered. "Are you alright?"

"Me? I...I'm fine," Ranma stuttered before noticing L, and the proximity to which he was now standing next to Kasumi. "Who's this guy?" Ranma asked, giving L a challenging look that merely caused the detective to return a look of seeming boredom.

"Oh, this is L," Kasumi said with a smile.

"L?" Ranma echoed skeptically as he looked over the man. "You can't be serious."

XXXXX

Looking through a collection of closely situated windows into the real world, the love goddess Sira thought aloud, "Who to choose..." She had narrowed down her candidates to just a few. 'I have to get this right,' she thought, looking over her shoulder at her slightly droopy wing. 'I want that youth back.'

Although she was eager to work this out and have restored to her that which had been taken in punishment, she knew well this was also a risky affair. The queen would be watching intently. One misstep and she could find herself in a lot worse shape than she already was. 'So not fair for her to change the rules and retroactively punish me,' Sira pouted, although even she had known she was pushing things at the time.

Sighing, Sira dismissed the matter, leaned back and retrieved the new Love Note from a pouch at her side. "Well, playing around here is never going to get this over with. Time to just take my chances," she said to herself and looked through one of the portals at her chosen target. "Hmm... direct approach? Yeah." With that, Sira raised the notebook over her head with one hand then flung it through the window, well aimed.

"OW!" The person on the other end yelled in pain as it connected.

"Perfect," Sira said with a smile.

**End Chapter 11**

This one has been on a LOOONNNGGGG hiatus. Most of that was due too two thing, me being lazy, and me having trouble figuring out where to go. I got a fair share of bits and pieces of ideas, but I'm finding getting them put into a plot is an usually troublesome task here.

As I noted in chapter one, all input is welcome here. My ideas on this story are pretty sketchy right now meaning most my time is actually spent figuring out what to write rather than actually writing it, which is not the usual hold up for me.


	13. Chapter 12

Ranma ½

Love Note

Usual disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, any resemblance to Ranma ½ or Death Note is purely intentional, and the rest of that jazz.

For the purposes of this story, any text within single quotes like 'this' is considered a thought.

**Chapter**** 12**

Shampoo was still fighting her little internal war with herself. It would be easy to simply call this whole thing off and head home. But, Tofu's advice had stuck and she had pushed aside those stubborn voices in her head trying to get her to declare defeat. Instead she was working out a new approach that she was already expecting would last all of five seconds if her success rate so far was anything to judge by. Unfortunately, she arrived at the market place to find Ranma had already left. Examining the damaged pavement briefly, she soon noticed the nearby fruit merchant, Jin Itsuki, lost in thought.

"You see where Ranma go?" Shampoo asked him.

"Ah, yeah," he responded. "He and Kasumi went off with that L guy to some restaurant to talk."

Shampoo sighed, realizing she was unlikely to get Ranma alone to speak now. Although the one voice in her head gave a triumphant cry, she did not really feel it. After a second though, the second bit of the answer registered. "L is here?" She asked in surprise.

"I'm still not sure," Itsuki replied. "He claimed he was L at least."

Shampoo blinked in shock and considered. 'Great grandmother will want more information if this person is truly L,' she thought and looked around. Her own task for the day got mentally shelved for the time being, and she rushed off to find which of the local restaurants they had headed.

Finally having a bit of luck, Shampoo found the threesome at her second stop, an open air cafe. However without revealing herself, she could not get into earshot. Thinking quickly she decided on a different approach. After a few minutes more to find some water and a safe spot for her clothes, Shampoo sneaked her way up to the group in cat form and began listening in.

"So, you think Cupid could really be in Nerima?" Kasumi asked.

L scooped three more spoonfuls of sugar into his coffee before taking a sip. "Yes, in fact I believe Cupid is very likely in this general area," L replied.

"I could have told you that," Ranma said dismissively.

"Then perhaps you have a suspect in mind?" L asked and once more sipped for his coffee.

Ranma watched L in annoyance, noting how the detective held the cup with just the tip of his fingers. "Not really," he reluctantly admitted.

"But, you would agree you have been one of Cupid's victims?" L continued.

Giving Kasumi an unnoticed nervous glance, Ranma frowned. "Uh... yeah," he answered. "I ain't the only one," he added.

L nodded and took another sip of his drink. "I am well aware. Yourself, Akane Tendo, Kodachi Kuno, Shan Pu, and Tofu Ono have all been affected," he said, surprising Ranma. "A particular set of victims, don't you think?" L commented, carefully watching Kasumi.

However, as with the rest the conversation, Kasumi seemed oblivious to any implied meaning to this. "Yes, it has been a rather exciting time lately," she said with a smile.

"Exciting... that is one way to look at it," Ranma said with a sigh. "Everybody is accusing everybody of being Cupid."

"Yes," Kasumi said sadly. "Nabiki said some suspected Shampoo," she noted, causing Shampoo to involuntarily tense.

"No way Shampoo did all this," Ranma declared. From her hiding spot, Shampoo brightened at this. However, it was a short lived lift in her spirits, as Ranma added, "If she had this kind of power, she'd just use it on me directly."

While Shampoo sunk into herself, L nodded. "That is likely true, but it would be folly to so casually dismiss a suspect."

"Do you have a suspect, Mr. Ryuzaki?" Kasumi asked curiously.

"Yes," he answered, looking at Kasumi intently, but as before she remained oblivious to his implied gesture. He debated briefly simply saying it straight out, but doubt had taken hold. "But," he continued after a second, "to reveal such at this time would be premature."

"Sure," Ranma said sarcastically. "If you're so smart, how is Cupid pulling this off, huh?"

"That is a question integral to this case," L replied. "I have learned much of this power, but the exact nature of it still is a matter to be determined," he admitted. "We have determined, however, that the power requires both a name and a face of the victim."

"A name and a face?" Ranma echoed in thought.

"Not just any name either. It was be the true name of the victim," L continued.

"Oh? What about the people that they fall in love with?" Kasumi asked curiously.

"There does not seem to be any requirement to know them," L replied. Oddly, Kasumi seemed puzzled by this. "Do you not agree?"

"Oh, no, I do. I was just thinking that it is strange. Don't you find it odd that it seems like those people who are affected where Cupid would know both people's names seem to not last as long?" Kasumi asked, giving L pause. "I just noticed that a great deal from the shows I watch and have heard about," she explained

L hesitated, quickly running through his memories. In shock he could not mask, he saw the very pattern that Kasumi was eluding to. "I... had not considered that," he reluctantly admitted.

Ranma scoffed at hearing this. "Come on, Kasumi, we should get going home," he prompted.

"I suppose so. I should get these groceries put away," Kasumi said as the pair got up. "I wish you luck in your search, Mr. Ryuzaki," she said with a parting bow.

L acknowledged this with a simple nod, exchanged goodbyes and watched the pair as they headed off. Once out of sight, he began tapping his lips in contemplation. After a minute, he too stood up, pulled a cellphone out and called a number. "Yes, Watari, I'm done here... no... not as expected at all... very good," he said before returning the phone to his pocket and walking off.

From her hiding spot, Shampoo debated what to do. Although this man was odd in both appearance and mannerism, her instincts were telling her he was the real deal. With Ranma now in Kasumi's company, there was no further point in trying to speak to him today, and this was definitely something she needed to pass on. Decided, Shampoo rushed off to recover her clothes and transform back before heading home.

XXXXX

At Ukyo's restaurant, Akane finished applying a bandage to Mousse's head and sat back. The boy's anger had given way to remorse and he held his head low. Despite the nature of the circumstances, Akane could not help but see this as just a little amusing. Ranma rarely if ever seemed contrite, while Mousse was the quite the opposite. 'Of course, it could just be Cupid's power making me think that,' Akane thought, but could not help but feel that Ranma could use a bit of Mousse's attitude.

"I'm sorry, Akane. I let Ranma get to me," Mousse said after a moment.

"He's good at that," Akane said with a frown.

Mousse nodded. "It's just... seeing him with Shampoo..." he tried to explain, tensing as he did.

Akane waved off the explanation and tried to smile reassuringly. "Don't worry. After all, it... sorta worked, didn't it?"

Mousse frowned as he considered but finally nodded. "I guess so," he conceded and seemed to regain some spirit. "But we need more. We can't stop now. We have to keep the pressure on."

"Keep the pressure on?" Akane repeated anxiously.

Mousse nodded. "Yes. We should go out every weekend."

Akane tensed at considering this. "I don't-" Akane started to say but Mousse interrupted.

"Ranma will certainly challenge me for you," Mousse analyzed. "It is just a matter of time."

'I'm not sure that is how it works,' Akane replied on thought, but kept this to herself. 'What am I doing?' she asked herself as Mousse started laying out his plans which Akane only vaguely paid attention to. 'This whole plan is just bound to backfire, and then what?'

As Akane considered that, her mind drifted back and she remembered what Ranma had said to her many days earlier. 'Accept it,' Akane repeated in thought with a frown. She still did not know what to make of the statement. 'Did he mean to try it out and see what happens? Yeah right, first thing he does is mess in things. Does he think it is only supposed to apply to him? Jerk,' she thought with growing anger.

'Maybe Dr. Tofu is right. Does Ranma really have the qualities I want? I mean sure, sometimes he can be brave and such, but so can Mousse. Unless my life turns into an unending stream of craziness... Maybe he'd be better off with Kasumi.'

Finally noticing Akane's inattention and worsening mood, Mousse said, "Hey, Akane, what's wrong?"

Akane shook herself out of her thoughts. "Nothing, I'm fine," she said.

"So... do you think that will work?"

"Uh... sure," she replied, hiding her nervousness over missing what he said. "It sounds great."

"Really?" Mousse asked in uncertainty. "I actually thought it might be a bit of a stretch."

"Well... maybe, but I'm sure you'll work it out," Akane said. 'I really hope I'm not agreeing with something really stupid,' she added in thought. Changing topics, Akane asked, "No luck with Shampoo?"

"That was the first time I've seen her in a week," Mousse answered with a sigh.

Akane gave him a weak smile. "At least she didn't try to kill you like she promised," she lamely offered, but it only further depressed the boy. She wanted to say more to cheer him up, but in truth, she could no longer believe in the words. Perhaps it was simply her own feelings clouding her judgment or simply a revelation from recent events, but whatever the cause, Akane could no longer see the two Amazons as a couple.

'Not like she deserves him anyway,' Akane thought in annoyance. 'She treats him like a doormat... Doesn't care a lick about his feelings... Practically treated him like a slave before... She's absolutely no good for him. I can't believe I ever tried to get them together. I guess I didn't really know any better at the time.' As Akane considered this some more, she began to come to one conclusion. 'Maybe I should make him see that there is something better out there for him.'

As that through began to take hold, Ukyo came up the stairs in a rush. She entered the room, came to an abrupt stop, stepped back into the stairwell and out of sight and asked, "Are you two...?"

"We aren't doing anything, Ukyo," Mousse replied in mild annoyance.

"And why not?" the chef asked as she reentered the room. Akane scowled at this, but before she could comment, Ukyo shook her head and said, "Never mind that. I just heard L was in the market today."

"What?" both Akane and Mousse said in surprise.

"You sure it was the real L?" Akane asked.

Ukyo shook her head. "Just repeating what I was told. We have to get over there and start asking questions," she said.

Mousse jumped to his feet. "Right, we can finally strike back at Cupid," he said.

Akane nodded her agreement and likewise got to her feet. "Let's go."

XXXXX

At the Nekohanten, Maho was in the midst of delivering 6 bowls of hot ramen to a waiting table of customers. Unfortunately for the undercover FBI agent, she was not afforded a delivery tray and thus was forced to balance the bowls on her arms, one in each hand, one on each forearm, and one at each elbow. It was taking all her concentration and balance to manage the act. It did not help matters that she was near exhaustion at this late point in the day.

'That old woman is trying to kill me, I swear,' Maho thought as she cautiously inched her way to the table.

This delicate situation was upset when Shampoo suddenly rushed in. The Amazon girl dodged by Maho, not touching her but the prospect of a sudden impact caused the agent to tense just slightly, enough to upset her load. As she desperately fought to regain control, Shampoo stopped at the back counter.

"Great grandmother, Shampoo see L!"

'L?!' Maho repeated in thought and tensed just a bit more. That was enough to doom her, as the two bowls on her right arm began to tip. She recovered the one at her elbow, but the other was already sliding free. Cringing, she prepared for the inevitable, but in flash, Shampoo appeared next to her and snatched the bowl as it came free. "Uh, thanks," Maho said in some relief.

"No be so clumsy," Shampoo admonished, and placed the bowl on Maho's head.

"Yeah, sure," Maho replied weakly as she found herself in an even worse situation.

"Don't be so harsh, Shampoo. She's still in training, but she's making excellent progress," Cologne said, taking a buff from a pipe. "Now, what is this about L?"

Shampoo, apparently either unaware or unconcerned about Maho's tension at her ever more precarious position, returned to the back. "Yes, Shampoo see L talk with Ranma and Kasumi at restaurant."

Cologne nodded and motioned for Shampoo to follow her into the back. Maho in the meantime, through considerable effort, managed to finally deliver her dishes to the applause of the customers.

After dismissing herself, Maho hurried to bus a table and go to the backroom to listen in on what she could.

"...I think there is little to worry about," Cologne said. "If this L is half the detective his reputation implies, you will be excluded as a suspect. After all, you aren't Cupid, now are you?"

"Of course not," Shampoo protested before noticing Maho. After Maho gave her an innocent smile, Shampoo seemed to lose interest and returned her attention to Cologne. "Shampoo no have anything do with Cupid."

Maho moved over to the sink to drop off the dishes while continuing to listen.

"Exactly," Cologne replied with a smile. "No doubt this L will deduce the truth and you have nothing to worry about... at least from him. And what of your task for the day that the doctor sent you on?"

"You know..." Shampoo started to say, but stopped short, apparently realizing the answer. "Shampoo... no do it yet."

Cologne nodded and hopped to the door. "I leave said matter to you. It is an usual approach, I must admit, but it seems Ranma is in need of a different approach." Shampoo reluctantly nodded in agreement as Cologne headed back into the dining room.

A little confused, Maho decided to take a little risk as Shampoo lingered in the kitchen. "Uh... not to pry, but what does that mean?"

Shampoo frowned, casting Maho a quick glance, seeming irritated. However, a second of consideration, Shampoo's air shifted. "Is... Shampoo supposed to marry Ranma, but he..." Shampoo started but failed to find the words.

"I've been around long enough to piece that part together," Maho replied with a reassuring smile.

Shampoo hesitated then turned fully to address Maho. "Doctor think if Shampoo want Ranma like her, need... apologize," she explained, saying the final word with extreme disgust. Before Maho could respond, Shampoo continued, "Is... Why Shampoo have to apologize? Shampoo no one who steal prize at village! Shampoo no one who lie and say is girl!" Her outburst complete, Shampoo hung her head suddenly. "Shampoo have apologize anyway."

'She didn't come right out and say it, but that pretty much confirms she doesn't love the doctor,' Maho concluded before replying, "Sometimes you have to swallow your pride, as they say."

Shampoo nodded. "No taste very good," she replied in a mild joke before giving Maho a polite nod of thanks and walking off.

Maho remained behind in thought for a moment. 'So L talked to Kasumi? Hmm...'

"That's enough of a break, Miss Part Time!" Cologne called out, causing Maho to cringe.

"Coming, coming!" she blurted out. 'She really is going to kill me.'

XXXXX

"What a freak," Ranma as he came in the front door of the Tendo home.

Just behind him Kasumi smiled. "Yes, wasn't he just fascinating?" she said enthusiastically.

Ranma hesitated, then responded, "That is one way of putting it."

At that moment, Nabiki came up the hall followed by Trista. "So what you two been up to?" she asked with a sly look.

"We met L," Kasumi said a bright smile.

"He claims he is L," Ranma amended.

"You met L?" Nabiki asked to confirm, her face already draining of color.

Taking notice of this, Kasumi laid her palm on Nabiki's forehead. "Are you alright, Nabiki? You look a little pale."

"Uh... maybe a touch of a cold," Nabiki lied, glancing at Ranma but he seemed oblivious. "So, uh, what did you talk about with this L?"

"Nothing important," Ranma said dismissively.

"He was very interesting though," Kasumi added.

Ranma huffed and headed off without another word. Kasumi, by contrast, continued to smile.

Deciding she was unlikely to learn anything more useful without drawing extra unwanted attention, Nabiki turned away and headed up the stairs. "I think I'll just take a nap."

"Okay. I'll call when dinner is ready," Kasumi replied and headed off to the kitchen with her groceries.

Behind Nabiki, Trista commented, "Gee, Kasumi sure is lucky."

'Lucky doesn't even begin to describe this,' Nabiki thought in a mix of irritation and worry. Entering her room and closing the door, she finally let her expression shift to reveal her true anxiety. "I knew it! I knew it!" she said as she dropped onto her bed. "I just... I can't believe it."

"Kasumi really dodged a bullet, didn't she? Can you imagine if she ran into L when she had her memory?" Trista commented in amusement.

"I don't care about Kasumi! I'm the one holding the bag now!" Nabiki complained. "I just don't believe this guy. How does he do it? I may have to take more drastic measures," she continued and began to think. "Half my self control..." she pondered aloud.

"Oh, want the eyes now?" Trista asked. "If he did show himself again you get his name."

'And he wouldn't be expecting it...' Nabiki added in thought but then shook her head. "No, I can't be sure it is the real L. It wouldn't surprise me at all that this L is just a stand in. No, it's too risky. Need something else." Nabiki went deep into nervous thought. 'Just got to think things through.'

XXXXX

Hours later, while rumors of L's appearance at the market were continuing to circulate, the man himself was deep in thought in his hotel room. Already half way through his watermelon purchased earlier, he hardly took notice when the door opened and Maho rushed in.

"You met with Kasumi?" she asked urgently as she came into the room.

"Yes," L replied simply.

Maho frowned and took a seat on the couch. "A little more warning would have been nice," she commented.

"I told you such was coming," L replied.

Maho nodded in acceptance of the point before asking, "Well, how did it go?"

L considered for a moment then answered, "Not as I was expecting."

Maho frowned in disappointment. "So she isn't Cupid?"

"I cannot eliminate her at this time, but her responses were not as I anticipated," he replied before turning to Maho. "She was completely unconcerned with my presence. She even offered up information that is potentiality incriminating. Even her interest in Ranma seemed minimal. I have either grossly misjudged her, or..." he said before trailing off.

Maho nodded in understanding. "So now what?"

"I assume word of my presence in Nerima is already spreading?" L asked.

"Yes. Lots of people are talking about it. Shampoo was apparently eavesdropping on your little talk as well," Maho replied.

"Oh?" L said curiously. "How was her reaction?"

"Definitely... concerned I'd say. She talked to Cologne in the back, but they didn't seem convinced you would find Shampoo was not Cupid. However, I'm very confident we were right, she isn't in love with the doctor. She still has her sights on Ranma."

"I see, but that still leaves us the unanswered question of why the act," L commented as he rubbed his lower lip in thought. "You should practice even more caution in their company from now on. They may suspect you already."

The warning gave Maho pause. "You think they might try something?"

L considered for several seconds before answering, "It is only a slight possibility. Perhaps... hmm..."

"What?" Maho asked curiously.

"Kasumi brought up something that I have overlooked. I have to give it much deeper analysis which will take me a least a few days."

"Can I help?" Maho asked.

L thought then shook his head. "Not at this time. I would prefer to keep you neutrally minded at this time."

'Neutrally minded?' Maho repeated mentally in confusion. "Uh... right."

"As to Shan Pu, I may need you to take more... direct measures."

"Direct... You want me to come right out and ask them?"Maho asked

"It may be necessary, but I'll leave it to you to choose your exact approach," he replied. "Also, my appearance has stirred things up. Keep a look out."

"Right," Maho acknowledged.

Without further conversation, L turned to his computer and beginning to work. Maho took that as her cue to head out. After making her way to her own room, she paused in thought. 'If Kasumi and Shampoo are out, then we're out of suspects. Or, maybe we just seriously underestimated them?'

XXXXX

Inside a local office building, a female secretary was typing at her computer, working on the day's paper work. Just across from her, sitting and waiting was Kodachi. Dressed in a white blouse and black dress, she sat impatiently, every few moments shifting her stance slightly.

"This is totally unnecessary," she said openly, to which the secretary merely nodded. "I'm just doing this as proof I am quite in control of my faculties."

"Of course," the secretary replied without looking.

Kodachi eyed the secretary suspiciously. "You don't believe me."

"I'm not the doctor. What I believe is irrelevant," she pointed out in response, giving no hints of feeling either way.

"Yes," Kodachi replied confidently. "And I am certain the doctor will agree with me."

The secretary did not respond, instead continuing with her work. After a minute of silence a young man exited the room next to the secretary, followed shortly after by an older man.

"Next week we'll talk about that," the older man said to the younger, who nodded. "Good. Rimiko can you make sure to set him up for next week?"

"Of course, doctor," the secretary replied. "Same time good?" she asked the young man who nodded. "Very well, we'll call you the day before just to confirm as usual."

"Thanks," he replied and waved his goodbye as he departed.

The doctor turned to Kodachi. "Ah, Miss Kuno, come right in," he said, gesturing for her to follow.

"Bout time," Kodachi complained as she stood up. "Although I won't be here long. Ten... fifteen minutes at most," she said as she followed the doctor into his office and closed the door behind her.

Unconcerned about this, the secretary returned to her work. Ten minutes passed, then fifteen. At the half hour mark the intercom on her telephone rang, prompting her to pick it up. "Yes? Yes... umhmm... weekly? Oh, every other day... yes, I think we can manage it... Umhmm, yes I can clear the rest of the afternoon. Okay then," she said and finally hung up the phone and set back to work.

**End****Chapter**** 12**

Actually had this one finished for a few weeks, just hadn't gotten around to a few fixes.

As I noted in chapter one, all input is welcome here particular now, as my solid ideas pretty much end here. I have a few sketchy things in mind, but probably will be a while before I can turn them into something solid.


	14. Chapter 13

Ranma ½

Love Note

Usual disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, any resemblance to Ranma ½ or Death Note is purely intentional, and the rest of that jazz.

For the purposes of this story, any text within single quotes like 'this' is considered a thought.

**Chapter 13**

It was a good morning in Ukyo's opinion. The sun was shining, she was feeling perfect, and best of all, no signs of Kodachi. Ukyo was currently on her way to school, and making plans. 'I've been in neutral with Ranma-honey for too long. It is time to make a move,' she thought as she arrived at the gate to Furinkan high.

As she was debating her approach to the topic, a sensation of approaching danger came to her. Stopping, she eyed her surroundings, noticing several concealed movements. 'Now what?' she asked herself in annoyance.

"Ukyo Kuonji, prepare to die!" came a battle cry from high above.

Ukyo looked up to see a girl in a green leotard descending on her wielding a pair of clubs. However, it was quickly apparent that this was not the usual gymnast that Ukyo was familiar with dealing with.

Unhooking her battle spatula from her back, she swung it above her, swatting away the incoming girl. No sooner did she do so, though, when a ribbon wrapped around that spatula's handle from the side. Ukyo looked over to see another female gymnast, similarly dressed, wielding said ribbon. Before she could consider this, another attack came in, this time a ball. Ukyo pulled out a throwing spatula and easily diverted the weapon from its target, while simultaneously yanking on her spatula, overpowering the girl with the ribbon.

This was fortunate timing as two more attackers now appeared, one wielding a pair of hoops, the other a length of rope. Like those before them, they too wore the same green leotard, causing Ukyo to sigh. 'I'm starting to see a pattern here,' she thought and resigned herself to battle.

Such was short though. It quickly became apparent that these girls were poor substitutes for Kodachi. Each was versed only in their one weapon, and not particularly well at that. After only a minute all the girls lay defeated on the ground.

By this point, a small crowd had gathered around to witness the whole incident. Slamming the end of her battle spatula into the ground in annoyance, Ukyo asked angrily, "Did Kodachi put you up to this?"

After taking a moment to recover, the first girl to attack got back to her feet and pointed a finger accusingly at Ukyo. "This is all your fault!"

Ukyo blinked in total confusion, before exclaiming , "WHAT?!"

Another of the girls got up at this point. "Yeah, you made Kodachi quit!"

"WHAT?!" Ukyo found herself repeating. "Back up, would you! What the devil are you talking about?"

"Don't act naive," a third girl said as she joined the others. "You're the cause of this whole mess!"

Ukyo growled, and pulled her battle spatula back up to the ready. "If I don't get a straight answer in the next thirty seconds, I'm going to start making Okonomiyaki out of the bunch of you, GOT IT?!"

The full group now recovered by this point collectively cringed as Ukyo stepped threateningly forward to emphasize her point. After taking a few seconds to conference, one of the group finally stepped forward to speak. "Kodachi has quit the gymnastics club," she said.

"And what does that have to do with me?!" Ukyo asked in annoyance.

"What does it..." the girl started repeating in her own annoyance, but after getting a harsh glare from Ukyo reset. "You're the one that sent her to that stupid doctor and he's the one that told her to quit."

Ukyo puzzled over this for a moment. 'Woah, she actually went,' Ukyo marvelled for a second.

"Yeah," another girl stepped forward to say. "This is all your fault. Our team is totally dependent on Kodachi. Because of that stupid suggestion of yours, our best member is gone!"

"We'll never be on the top again!" Another of the girls complained.

"And we'll never get dates!" Yet another yelled, getting annoyed looks from her companions. "Oops," she said nervously, covering her mouth.

Ukyo looked at the girls tiredly. "You got to be kidding me. Look, I don't control what she does!"

"We demand you talk her out of it!" the first girl said.

"What?" Ukyo said in shock.

"Yeah, you're her girlfriend, you tell her she should come back to the team!" another of the girls said.

"I AM NOT HER GIRLFRIEND!" Ukyo roared, before looking around at the crowd to see several of them already whispering to each other. Growling, Ukyo looked back at her attackers before growing puzzled. "Wait, you're okay with her having a girlfriend?" Ukyo asked.

"Why wouldn't we be?" the first girl asked.

"Yeah, it's not like we didn't know. I mean she always goes to change alone and she's always looking at-"

"Okay, okay, dangerously close to too much information," Ukyo interjected.

Another of the girls stepped forward, pointing once more accusingly at Ukyo. "It doesn't matter. You may have beat us today, but until you undo this mess you've created, we'll forever be hunting you!"

"Yeah," the others declared, and collectively headed off.

Ukyo shook her head, at a loss. 'What did I ever do to deserve this?'

XXXXX

By the time lunch came, Ukyo was asking herself that question even more. Rumors were already spreading through the school about the battle that morning, and becoming more crazy by the minute.

At this particular moment, Ukyo was finishing rapping one particular boy over the head with her battle spatula. "Where would I even get a dungeon, you jackass?!" she yelled. Panting for a moment to relieve her anger, she looked at those gathered around and ordered, "Stop spreading wild rumors about me!"

Her fit over with, Ukyo marched off. 'This is a VERY bad day,' she thought with a sigh before heading outside. So preoccupied had she been with the morning incident and the fall out, she had nearly forgotten her original goals for the day. 'That's right, Ranma...' she thought.

A quick look at his usual haunts and she found Ranma sitting outside by the field. "Ranchan," she called out as she ran over.

"Hey Ucchan," Ranma greeted.

Sitting down next to him, Ukyo looked around curiously. "Where's Akane?"

"Who knows," Ranma replied, betraying a little bitterness. "I heard about this morning. Quite the mess."

Ukyo sighed. "That is only part of the trouble. Half the school is now convinced I'm some sort of dominatrix or something. How the devil do they get to that? Because she did something I told her to? What the heck..." she said in exacerbation.

Ranma chuckled at that. "Don't let them get to you, Ukyo. Although, you might look good in leather," he joked getting a frown from the chef.

"Don't you start," she said, getting another chuckle from him. Ranma's mood seeming to have improved, Ukyo decided to let the matter slide and switched to a different topic. "So, Ranchan, you busy tonight?"

"Yeah. Pops wants to do some training or another," Ranma replied to Ukyo's disappointment.

'Drat,' Ukyo thought. "You happen to see L again?"

"No. I'm not even convinced that he was really L yet. Although, Kasumi seems convinced he is."

"Why's that?"

Ranma shrugged. "Don't know. Although, if he was L, what was he up to?"

Ukyo thought on this, realizing Ranma's point. "What about Cupid? Any new clues?"

Ranma shook his head. "Nothing. You?"

Mirroring Ranma, Ukyo shook her head, "Afraid not."

"Did notice Nabiki acting a bit odd," Ranma noted.

"Odd, how?"

Ranma shrugged in uncertainty. "Not sure really."

"You think she might be Cupid?" Ukyo asked.

"Nah. This doesn't benefit her at all," Ranma concluded.

Ukyo nodded in agreement, but continued to consider. "Maybe Cupid got to her and she's trying to hide it."

Ranma smirked at that. "That would be funny if true." Ukyo smiled in agreement with this. "So, what's Mousse up to?" Ranma asked, looking off at the field to divert his eyes.

Of course, this did not fool Ukyo in the least. 'He really wants to know about Akane,' she thought. "He and Akane are supposed to go out again this weekend," she answered honestly.

Ranma darkened some at hearing this, but he merely huffed.

Ukyo frowned slightly at this. 'Akane with Mousse is a great opportunity to get her out of the picture, but I'm a little worried that Ranma might go to Kasumi,' the chef thought. 'Then there is still the matter of Shampoo too, but she does seem to be wrapped up with Tofu... I just don't know.' Uncertain which way to go, Ukyo decided it just maintain the what was for now. "You shouldn't worry about it, Ranchan," Ukyo said.

"Who's worried?" Ranma reflexively denied. "They're just trying to make me jealous, is all. Like I'm going to fall for that."

'Yeah, you just might,' Ukyo thought, but was not sure whether that was a good or bad thing for her.

XXXXX

Some hours later, the school day done, Ukyo was approaching her restaurant. 'Well, this day has been a wash,' she mentally declared, still unsure if she should push the Akane-Mousse angle or not.

As she rounded the final corner to home, she was brought up short by a very unexpected sight. At either end of the road, two groups of school girls were picketing. After a second of puzzlement over this, Ukyo turned her attention to their signs and was very unamused at what she saw.

Ucchan's Okonomiyaki is a health hazard! Ukyo Kuonji uses substandard ingredients! Ucchan's mistreats its workers!

These and similar claims were made. After taking a moment to fully absorb what she was witnessing, Ukyo rushed over. "What's the meaning of this?" she demanded.

One of the girls turned to Ukyo revealing herself to be one of the gymnastics club members from that morning. "We warned you we weren't finished with you," she said.

Ukyo's eye twitched in anger at this, and impulsively she reached for her battle spatula. "I've had just about enough of you," Ukyo threatened.

"Oh, threatening us, are you?" the girl slyly asked, giving Ukyo pause. "We're just exercising our right to peacefully protest."

"Peacefully protest?!" Ukyo echoed in outrage, drawing her weapon. "If you don't-" she started to threaten but stopped when she spotted one of the other girls filming her with a small video camera. "What are you doing?"

"Just documenting your misdeeds," the girl replied with a smile. "We might just have to send it to all the local authorities, and news agencies," she hinted.

Once more, Ukyo's twitched, but she stood down. "You're not going to get away with this," she muttered.

"Maybe not, but then we'll think up something else," the girl. "So, what's it to be, Kuonji?"

Ukyo tensed, seriously considering the violent approached despite the video tape, but in the end controlled herself. "Fine, I'll talk with Kodachi," she responded through clenched teeth.

"Then you better get going. We'll be right here waiting," the girl said.

Growling, Ukyo turned around and headed off. 'Someone really has it out for me,' she thought.

XXXXX

A knock at the front door of the Tendo home soon brought Kasumi. She opened it to find Shampoo, smiling and greeting her with her usual, "Nihao!"

"Hello Shampoo," Kasumi greeted with a smile of her own. "I'm sorry, but if you're looking for Ranma, he and his father went out."

Shampoo shook her head. "Shampoo know this, come see Kasumi," the Amazon replied.

"Oh, why don't you come in then," Kasumi replied naively and gestured for Shampoo to head to the common room.

Shampoo continued her smile and did so, although inside she reflexively sized up her newest rival in love. 'I could break her like a twig,' she could not help but think, but sighed inwardly and dismissed the notion. It was old thinking. As difficult and unfamiliar as the path set before her by Tofu, Shampoo was determined to at least give it a try as the old ways were a total failure. However, today at least, there was another matter to deal with, and that one Shampoo felt she was more than set to handle.

"Would you like some tea, or juice perhaps?" Kasumi offered politely.

"No," Shampoo replied as she sat at the common room table. "Just come speak with Kasumi." Kasumi nodded and sat opposite Shampoo. "Why Kasumi no see Doctor Tofu anymore?" Shampoo asked bluntly.

Kasumi blinked, caught off guard by Shampoo's directness. "I'm not sure," she replied before shying away. "I thought you and he-"

"No," Shampoo interjected.

Kasumi looked back at Shampoo in confusion. "No? Did not Cupid-"

"Yes," Shampoo replied. She considered briefly telling Kasumi the full truth, but decided against it for precaution's sake. "Doctor and Shampoo both know is Cupid power. We no just accept though. Shampoo still want marry Ranma most."

"Oh," Kasumi responded in surprise.

"And Doctor most want be with Kasumi," Shampoo said, further surprising Kasumi.

Kasumi smiled and shook her head. "I'm sure you misunderstood. Tofu and I-"

"No misunderstand," Shampoo insisted. "Doctor say is true, he love Kasumi."

Kasumi reflexively blushed and looked away.

"Doctor much shy," Shampoo continued on. "He no can get nerve tell Kasumi this by self, but Shampoo know is true."

Kasumi was struck by this, and unable to respond for a moment. Finally though, she lowered her head and admitted, "In truth, I had been avoiding him because of... but if what you say is true..."

"Is true," Shampoo insisted. "You see Doctor and ask for self and see," she instructed.

Kasumi thought on this. "I... will think on it," she conceded, giving Shampoo a slight smile.

Shampoo frowned, the response less than she had hoped, but decided it was best to accept it for now. "Okay," she said and started to get up.

"Thank you for telling me this, Shampoo," Kasumi said.

Shampoo nodded and turned to leave, but paused. "Shampoo know Cupid make Ranma love Kasumi too," she said, again surprising the other girl. "This be Cupid though, and Shampoo no hate Kasumi, but no give up on Ranma either."

"I understand," Kasumi replied.

With a last nod of acknowledgment, Shampoo headed out.

Kasumi let her leave, and continued to sit at the table in thought.

XXXXX

At the gate to the Kuno mansion, Ukyo rang the bell and waited. 'How did I ever get into this mess?' Ukyo thought with a sigh.

After a minute the large gate creaked opened and Sasuke peaked out. "Oh, Ms. Kuonji," he said in surprise.

"I'm here to see Kodachi," Ukyo said tiredly.

"Of course, of course," Sasuke replied, pushing the gate enough to allow entry. "This way," he instructed and lead the way. With a sigh, Ukyo followed along and into the mansion.

'This place is huge,' she thought as they walked.

"Um," Sasuke hesitantly said. "You're the one that told Kodachi to see the doctor, right?"

"Yeah, you got a complaint too now?" Ukyo responded.

"Oh, no!" Sasuke quickly replied. "Actually... it has been... good."

"Good?" Ukyo echoed skeptically.

"Oh yes. Lady Kodachi has been much more... umm..."

"Sane?" Ukyo suggested, causing the house ninja to cringe, but nod. "So, she really went to see a psychologist huh?"

Once more Sasuke nodded. "Yes, very frequently actually. He prescribed her this nice pill and-"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Ukyo said dismissively. "I have serious doubts that any pill can fix her."

Sasuke chuckled nervously at this before stopping at a door. "If you just wait here, I'll-" Sasuke started, but Ukyo ignored him.

"I haven't got time to be wasting here, Sugar," she said and barged by and into the room, much to Sasuke's shock. Oddly, he made no attempt to enter and stop her, instead merely calling for her to come back, but Ukyo ignored this. "Kodachi, we got to talk!" Ukyo called out as she walked into the room.

It took a moment to fully appreciate her new surroundings. The room was a huge one, wide and spacious. Ukyo continued to walk in, looking around curiously at the boulders and plants within. 'What is this, some kind of weird greenhouse?' she wondered as she came up to the edge of one of the boulders and stopped before a large body of water. 'Indoor hot spring?' she wondered, seeing an artificial waterfall feeding the water in and feeling the warmth coming from it.

At that moment, a gasp of surprise caught her attention, and she looked down to see she was standing nearly on top of Kodachi who was in the water. A second more and Ukyo realized Kodachi was in fact naked and blushing in embarrassment. "Oh, it's the bath," Ukyo concluded aloud before fully appreciating the situation she was now in. With a start she turned away and covered her eyes. "Gah, why didn't you answer me?"

"I did not hear you," Kodachi replied from behind her.

"Well... uh... just hurry up! We need to talk," Ukyo said as she started to walk away. Unfortunately, with her eyes covered, she misstepped on one of the wet rocks and tripped. Falling backwards, Ukyo desperately spun around to catch herself, but only water and Kodachi were beneath her. With a cry, Ukyo splashed into the water, the unexpected fall causing her to take in a mouth full of water. Ukyo instinctively panicked for a second, desperately doing all she could to get clear of the water.

With a loud gasp and cough, Ukyo resurfaced and took in several breaths before taking stock of her situation. She soon noticed that in her effort to resurface she had taken hold of Kodachi's upper thigh. Said gymnast was now staring back at her, startled. Ukyo momentarily froze before withdrawing sharply.

Raising her hands to her cheeks and shyly turning away, Kodachi said, "Oh my dearest Ukyo, if you wanted to join me, you need but have asked."

"That was an accident!" Ukyo exclaimed, and rushed out of the water. She glanced once more at Kodachi, noticing the other girl was now subtly moving to cover herself as best as possible given the situation. Ukyo could not help but blush herself at this and quickly looked away.

"Oh, Ukyo sweetums, you are so fun to tease," Kodachi said, and Ukyo could hear her rise from the water.

"Tease?!" Ukyo echoed, almost impulsively glancing back once again, but stopped herself. She heard several movements behind her, then footsteps approaching. Cringing, Ukyo darted forward and away, looking back at last to see Kodachi now dressed in a bathrobe.

"Yes, quite," Kodachi said with a smile. "Now, look at you, you are soaked right through."

Ukyo quickly glanced down at herself to ensure nothing was showing through her wet clothes before relaxing slightly. She got back to her feet and replied, "I'll be fine."

"Nonsense, it is cold outside, and you'll freeze. I'll have Sasuke dry those for you while we talk," Kodachi said as she started to walk for the door.

"You expect me to strip here?" Ukyo asked in a mix of outrage and shock.

"Well, if you want..." Kodachi replied, looking back over her shoulder with a smile. "But, if you were prefer a robe of your own, that I can provide as well."

Ukyo frowned, but had to admit Kodachi was right, as even now see was being to feel the chill of the cooling water. "I'll keep my weapons if you don't mind," she said as she followed reluctantly behind.

"As you wish."

XXXXX

A short time later, Ukyo, now dressed in a bathrobe of her own, found herself just outside Kodachi's bedroom. Within, Kodachi was in the process of getting properly dressed while talking with Ukyo.

"So, are you going to do something about them or not?" Ukyo asked impatiently.

"I will certainly speak with them if that is what you desire, my dearest," Kodachi replied, causing Ukyo to cringe. "However, I cannot promise they will like what I have to say."

"Yeah, about that, what's this about, you quiting I mean?"

"My therapist said that I was obsessing about my gymnastics," Kodachi answered.

"But, he didn't tell you to just up and quit, did he?"

Within the room, Kodachi paused in thought. "You are correct, he did not. I suppose then I can at least discuss the matter with him."

Ukyo nodded in satisfaction. At the moment, Kodachi emerged from her room in a white blouse and black dress. Ukyo looked at her noticing she no longer had her hair tied in the off center ponytail that she usually wore. Instead it was left loose, with a simple red bow tied within.

Noticing Ukyo examining her, Kodachi rubbed her hand through her hair and smiled. "I decided to try something a bit new," she said.

"Uh... whatever," Ukyo replied, looking away. "Don't get any goofy ideas about me being here. I just have a business to run and can't have your flunkies driving off my customers."

"They are hardly my... flunkies," Kodachi responded.

Ukyo huffed. "Isn't Sasuke done yet?"

"Evidently not," Kodachi replied, moving to lean against the wall opposite Ukyo. "It must be difficult running a restaurant and going to school. However do you manage?"

Ukyo sighed and shook her head. She was in no mood for small talk but was not in much of a position to evade it either. "My dad actually owns the restaurant and keeps up the rent and such. Any money I make is for my own use."

"I see," Kodachi said with a beaming smile that just made Ukyo more nervous. "So, rather successful is he?"

"Somewhat," Ukyo answered, trying to not meet Kodachi's gaze. 'Where is hell is that damn Sasuke?' she asked in thought.

"So tense," Kodachi observed. "Are you afraid I'll ravish you in the hall?"

Ukyo involuntarily stiffened at the question. "Would you quit that!"

Kodachi responded with her usual laugh. "I must say, you are delightfully entertaining company, but, if you insist. I will hurry Sasuke along and then we can get going."

"_We_ can get going?" Ukyo echoed.

"Of course, or would you prefer for me to talk to them alone?" Kodachi asked with a sly smile.

Ukyo frowned, knowing full well what Kodachi was hinting at. "Fine," she conceded.

With an amused chuckle, Kodachi headed off, leaving Ukyo to hang her head in defeat. 'I just know this is going to get out and the rumor mill will probably have us married by tomorrow,' she thought with a shake of her head.

XXXXX

About that time at the Nekohanten, Maho was about ready to collapse. It was unfortunately a common feeling. Cologne pushed her to this point, and just when Maho thought she could take no more, the Amazon elder would ease up, although only briefly.

The restaurant empty of customers at that moment, Maho dropped into an open chair and sighed heavily.

"My, you get tired so easily Ms. Nakako," Cologne noted as she too took a break to smoke her pipe.

'Maybe by your insane standards,' Maho mentally complained. "Does Shampoo have to do this too?"

"Of course not," Cologne replied, causing Maho to frown. "I would never give such easy exercises."

"Easy?!"

Cologne took a long puff of her pipe before looking at Maho seriously. "You have your doubts? Perhaps tomorrow I should put you on deliveries. Of course, you may need a visit to the hospital if I did so."

Maho cringed, prompting the elder to chuckle.

"Although, even Shampoo's training has suffered recently. Can't be helped, I suppose," Cologne commented. "Bad enough that Son-in-law is being so resistant, now all this Cupid nonsense... Do you think this L character is truly up to the task?"

Maho merely shrugged in response.

"An unusual young man, from Shampoo's description. Quite bold too to reveal himself. What could he be up to?" Cologne asked, but again Maho remained quiet. "I wonder if he even aware that we Amazons encountered another Cupid?" Cologne asked.

This time Maho grew suspicious. Something in the elder's tone told her she was deliberately pushing. Plus, dropping a morsel like the last right in her lap was just too good. Maho eyed Cologne suspiciously, getting a sly smile in response.

"There is only two reasons someone like yourself would continue to work for me. They are incredibly desperate, or they are compelled to. You don't seem very desperate though," Cologne explained. "L must be a demanding employer."

Maho briefly pondered playing dumb, but dismissed such. "How long?"

"I was suspicious the moment you applied," Cologne replied. Seeing Maho's shoulders sag, Cologne chuckled and added, "Don't be discouraged, young lady. I am naturally suspicious of everyone."

"Whatever," Maho mumbled. "What's this about the Amazons and Cupid? And while we're on the topic, why is Shampoo faking being in love with doctor Tofu?"

"I will answer the second question first," Cologne replied. "It is a merely a suspicion that we have no way of confirming, but I believe Cupid attempted to use her power on Shampoo."

"Attempted?" Maho asked in confusion.

"Yes, it was not long after Cupid used her power on the police. I had just returned from China and-"

"Wait!" Maho cut in. "After the attack on the police?"

"Yes," Cologne said with a serious nod. "I managed to intervene and protect Shampoo when Tofu fell in love with her. I assumed she would be the next target. She likely would be in love with him as well without that protection."

Maho shook her head. "Okay, we're going to need to back up a little," she said.

"As you wish," Cologne replied. "But before I volunteer any more information, I would like to talk with L myself."

Maho frowned. "Even I'm not talking with him at the moment. He is deep in something. I can pass along the request though."

"Very well," Cologne agreed. "Until then, it's about time for you to get back to work."

"What?!" Maho responded in shock.

Cologne smiled deviously at her employee. "Yes, I have a feeling you will be continuing your employment with me for sometime to come, and I do so enjoy the opportunity of molding the youth."

Maho cringed. 'L better need this info, because I'm paying a hell of a price for it,' she thought before Cologne once more set her numerous tasks to be completed with far too little time to reasonably do so.

XXXXX

At Ucchan's Okonomiyaki, Ukyo had declared the day a bust and retired to her room. She had left Kodachi outside talking with her squad, satisfied that Kodachi at least appeared to be talking them down. She could, of course, pull a stunt while Ukyo was not there, but the chef had concluded that since she couldn't monitor Kodachi at school anyway, it little helped now. Besides, after the third group of students from Furinkan passed by and started whispering, Ukyo decided to press her luck no further being seen in public with Kodachi.

In her room, Ukyo tried to relax on her bed cushion and watch some television. She turned to a new show called Cupid's Arrow. This particular show started not long after the police incident. The host regularly interviewed guests who claimed to have brought together by Cupid, while also having singles on looking for help from Cupid. It had become particularly popular, especially when Cupid seemed to respond.

Just as Ukyo was settling in, she heard Kodachi's distinct laugh just before she stepped into view in the room. Ukyo frowned at this, already regretting telling Kodachi to come see her after her talk.

"No bodyguard today?" Kodachi asked, smiling.

"No, Mousse is out with Akane somewhere," Ukyo replied.

Kodachi nodded and looked over the room curiously. "So this is my love's inner abode... how-"

"If you say quaint, I'll hit you," Ukyo warned. "Some of us aren't rich."

Kodachi smiled innocently. "Not at all," Kodachi assured her, looking about the room. "I see I'm not the only one that watches that," she said as she saw the television program.

"It's research," Ukyo said in mild annoyance.

"Research? Then don't waste your time," Kodachi replied, causing Ukyo to eye her questioningly. "It is nothing more than a farce. I would know. I have personally experienced Cupid's power. Those on this show are nothing but pretenders."

"Then why do you watch it then?" Ukyo asked.

"Because it amuses me," Kodachi answered honestly.

"Whatever. What's happening with your teammates?" Ukyo asked.

"I cannot promise they will be no further trouble, but they appear to have seen reason. If they trouble you any further, just contact me, and I will... discuss it with them," Kodachi answered, her smile turning devious.

Under normal circumstances, Ukyo might have felt sorry for the girls. She was long past that point though. "Fine."

Clapping her hands together in delight, Kodachi asked. "So then, does this mean I'm no longer banished from the restaurant?"

Ukyo cringed. 'I did sort of stupidly agree to that, didn't I,' she thought. 'I could still tell her no, but then she's that much more likely to sick her squad on me again. Plus, she'd probably stop seeing the doctor if I said such... oh...' she considered. After taking several more seconds to weigh the alternatives, Ukyo let out a sigh. "Okay, but if you make a pest out of yourself again-"

"Certainly not," Kodachi eagerly said.

'I can't believe I just agreed to this,' Ukyo thought. 'I just know I'm going to regret it.' Pondering this, Ukyo had an idea. "You know, it is just going to wear off."

Kodachi laughed at this. "Perhaps, but that is a risk in all relationships, is it not?" she asked, but Ukyo merely frowned and looked away. "Of course, you believe you and Ranma are different."

"It is different. No Cupid made me love him," Ukyo replied sternly.

Unexpectedly, Kodachi nodded in seeming acceptance of this. "Yes, although I do have a question; did you not first come to Furinkan to have your revenge upon Ranma for abandoning you?"

Ukyo hesitated, sensing a trap. "Yeah, kinda."

"So what made you change your mind?"

'Because he said I was cute,' Ukyo mentally replied, but knew such a response sounded lame. "It's complicated," she finally answered.

"I see," Kodachi said with a smile. Ukyo scowled at her. "I suppose I should be off then," the gymnast said before Ukyo could make further issue of the matter. "Till next time, my love."

Kodachi departed, leaving Ukyo with a shiver.

**End Chapter 13**

As said last chapter, probably will be a while for the next one. Have to cobble my ideas together into a coherent chapter. As always, open to all input.


	15. Chapter 14

Ranma ½

Love Note

Usual disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, any resemblance to Ranma ½ or Death Note is purely intentional, and the rest of that jazz.

For the purposes of this story, any text within single quotes like 'this' is considered a thought.

**Chapter 14**

'Akane, just how long has it been? It feels like an eternity,' Ryoga thought as he trudged aimlessly down a city street. Pausing a moment, he looked up into the sky, imagining Akane's image in the clouds. 'Oh, how I miss your smile.'

At that moment a delivery van drove by, through a street side puddle. The resulting spray of water quite naturally hit the daydreaming boy. A few seconds later, P-chan struggled his way free of his former clothes and let out an annoyed snort.

As he considered the best method to find some hot water and get back to his clothes, he heard a very unexpected voice on the adjoining street.

"I can't believe you haven't had your prescription updated in ten years," Akane said as she walked up the street.

Excitedly, P-chan rushed to the sound of Akane's voice. He rounded the corner just as Akane, together with Mousse were about to pass. With a squeal, he caught the girl's attention.

"P-chan!" Akane called out happily and rushed over to pick up the piglet. "Where have been?" she asked with a smile.

After taking a moment to bask in Akane's embrace, P-chan finally took notice of Mousse. The Amazon boy eyed the piglet curiously. P-chan returned the look.

Misinterpreting Mousse's look, Akane chuckled and explained, "Oh, this is P-chan. He's always wandering off. I would have thought you would have seen him before."

"Oh, I have," Mousse replied, eying the piglet for another second before diverting back to the previous topic. "Anyway, I didn't think I needed to update it."

Akane shook her head in amusement and lead on once more. "Of course you do. I'm just glad I mentioned it. We should get the new one filled out right away."

"I suppose," Mousse replied, looking around briefly. "Any sign of Ranma?" he asked quietly.

"No," Akane answered, P-chan catching an odd, almost nervous look from Akane that Mousse missed. "Don't worry about him. There is a store not far from here. I'll help you pick out some frames."

"I suppose," Mousse responded.

Still in Akane's arms, P-chan looked between Akane and Mousse in confusion.

XXXXX

Far away, in a Tokyo television studio, Toshiki Inoue, host of Cupid's Arrow, opened the door to his dressing room and entered, followed by an assistant. "What we got for the next episode?" he asked as he took a seat.

The assistant leafed through several sheets of paper on a clip board before responding, "Two more couples from a previous episode, and some guy from down south. Says he has this secret crush..."

Toshiki sighed. "Another one. Thank God these people are so naive to think Cupid is actually listening."

The assistant chuckled. "Yeah, enjoy it while it lasts. Sooner or later they will figure it out. Till then it is a paycheck."

"Yeah," Toshiki replied. "That L character may have already caught him for all we know."

"He would probably have announced it if that was the case. Oh, you got another package from a Cupid."

Tiredly, Toshiki looked at a nearby table with a box. "Another one," he said in annoyance.

"Security already checked it out. Just some video tape," the assistant said as he looked through his papers.

"You watch it?" Toshiki asked with a smirk.

"No. One piece of amateur porn was more than enough for me," the assistant responded. "Probably just another nut job. If you want me to toss it..."

"Nah, I'll handle it," Toshiki responded.

With a nod, the assistant went through a few pieces of business before departing.

Toshiki leaned back in his chair with a tired sigh before looking at the package. As he continued to eye it, an increasing compulsion to open it took hold.

XXXXX

"How about these?" Akane suggested.

Mousse looked at the frames that Akane passed him skeptically. They were an understated pair, with a minimalist metallic frame. "I don't know..." he replied as he held them over his eyes and looked in the mirror. "They look rather flimsy."

"Hmh, yeah, let me see..." Akane said as she returned to the displays.

Mousse took a nearby seat, P-chan sitting in the one next to him. As Akane drifted away, Mousse leaned over to the piglet. "I'm telling you right now, this was not my idea. It is all Cupid's fault."

P-chan squealed in response, Mousse unsure if it was meant to express confusion or perhaps anger. Sitting back up straight, Mousse looked around him for any signs of Ranma, but found none. 'Where is Ranma?' he thought in puzzlement. 'He should have been here by now.'

"Here, try these ones," Akane called over to him.

Sighing, Mousse obediently walked over to check out Akane's selection. Like the last they had a metallic frame, but this time more robust, but still understated. Mousse squinted as he tried to get an idea of what they would looked like in the mirror. This continued for another minute before Akane suddenly intervened.

"Here, just try them on," Akane said, removing Mousse old glasses before he had a chance to argue. With his vision blurred, he could do little but allow Akane to put on the new pair.

"I can't tell what they look like though," Mousse pointed out.

"Trust me, they look great. You should get these," Akane replied.

Akane handed Mousse back his glasses which he raised in front of him in a futile attempt to get a better look in the mirror. "You really think they look good?" he asked.

"Definitely," Akane replied, beaming.

Mousse hesitated but finally nodded. "Alright," he conceded as he replaced them with his old pair.

"Great! Let's go fill the order," Akane directed, pulling Mousse by the elbow toward the nearby clerk.

"Still no signs of Ranma?" Mousse asked quietly. Akane mutely shook her head in response. "Where is he?"

"Don't worry about him. Jerk is probably sulking somewhere," Akane replied as they reached the clerk.

Behind them, P-chan continued to sit, puzzled by the whole situation. However, one thing was sure, he did not like how familiar the two were being. As he continued to watch them talk with the clerk, he grew ever more concerned as Akane continued to smile happily in Mousse's direction.

XXXXX

"Kasumi, I'm back," Ranma called out from the front door as he removed his shoes.

"Oh good," Kasumi called back. "Did you get everything?"

"Uh, yeah," Ranma replied as he carried two bags to the kitchen. Inside, he found Kasumi in cooking prep for dinner.

"Wonderful, just leave them there. Thank you so much for getting them for me. It was silly of me to forget when I was shopping yesterday," Kasumi said, giving Ranma a brief appreciative smile before returning to her work.

"Uh, no problem," he replied, setting the bags down as directed. "You... need anything else?"

Kasumi shook her head. "No, thank you. Dinner won't be ready for at least an hour." Ranma nodded in acknowledgment, but remained at the kitchen door for a long moment. Noticing this, Kasumi looked over her shoulder curiously. "Is there something you wanted?"

"Uh... nono," Ranma quickly replied and departed before Kasumi could become more suspicious. Out of her view, he sighed and slowly headed to the common room. 'I don't know why I get nervous all the time. It's not like she doesn't know,' he thought. 'Of course, Akane would probably kill me if I did anything. I just don't know. If this thing doesn't wear off, then what?' Shaking his head for lack of an answer, Ranma entered the common room just in time to notice another presence.

Before Ranma could react, he found himself tossed to the floor, and Ryoga hovering over him, grabbing him by the collar. "How could you let this happen to Akane?!" Ryoga angrily demanded.

It took a second, but exactly what Ryoga was referring to became obvious, and with that realization Ranma slugged Ryoga, sending him to the floor a few feet away. Ranma quickly reversed the situation, grabbing the now prone Ryoga by the collar. "You think I just let this happen?!" Ranma nearly yelled back in outrage. "Don't you even start with me, or you will sooo regret it! I'm in no mood!"

Ryoga was struck as he saw the emotion on Ranma's face. After a moment of silence between them, Ranma grunted and tossed Ryoga roughly back to the floor and stepped away. Another few seconds and Ryoga recovered and got back to his feet. "So, it's really true then?"

Ranma scoffed in annoyance. "You come in here accusing me of things and you're not even sure it's true?!" he asked angrily, but after another few seconds to calm, sadness took hold and he nodded. "Yeah, it's true. How'd you find out?"

"Akane was out with Mousse..." Ryoga began to reply, getting Ranma's full attention suddenly back.

"What? When?"

"Earlier today," Ryoga replied.

Ranma clenched his teeth. 'She didn't even tell me this time. Was she trying to hide it?' he thought tensely.

Ryoga looked down at the ground, fighting with his own emotions. "Just who is this Cupid?"

"Where you been?" Ranma asked in annoyance before waving off any answer. "Actually, never mind. Alright, sit down, I'll bring you up to date," he said with a tired sigh. Obediently Ryoga did so, Ranma soon joining him, and he went over all the recent events, although omitting his own issues with Kasumi. After about ten minutes the tale was finished, leaving Ryoga temporarily at a loss.

"Are there no clues?" Ryoga finally asked.

"Any good clues, no. That L character seems to think Cupid is nearby, and he's probably right, but that doesn't do us much good," Ranma answered.

"Then we have to take action," Ryoga declared, puzzling Ranma. "Mousse, we have to make sure he stays away from Akane," he explained.

"And how do you propose we do that? Clobber him? Trust me, that's not going to work," Ranma replied.

"No, he still wants to be with Shampoo, right? We just have to get her to take him back," Ryoga suggested.

Ranma scoffed. 'More like I have to get Shampoo to take him back,' he thought with a frown. 'Still, he's got a point. Get him back into the Nekohanten and Mousse will probably be too distracted by Shampoo to even think about Akane.' Ranma pondered for another few seconds before finally nodding in agreement. "Alright, suppose that could work."

"Then let's go!" Ryoga said excitedly, jumping to his feet.

XXXXX

Nearing the Nekohanten, Ryoga could not help but think of Ranma's reaction. He had known Ranma was in love with Akane, however much he denied it, but it had made it startlingly clear just how much this situation was playing on him. Earlier, Ryoga had hoped that he was simply overreacting, and that the situation between Akane and Mousse was less serious, but Ranma's reaction proved otherwise. There was also a small part of his mind cursing his bad luck, certain that had he been around at the time Cupid would have chosen him instead of Mousse. Of course, he would vehemently deny any such base thoughts.

The two stepped into the Nekohanten to find Shampoo and Maho waiting tables. Almost instantly, Shampoo gleefully rushed over and hugged Ranma. Ranma naturally did his usual protest at the attention, while Ryoga took it as a little comfort that not all had changed in his absence.

"Come on, Shampoo. I'm just here to talk," Ranma said, doing his best to not encourage the Amazon, but also not complicate his goals by angering her.

"Talk?" Shampoo repeated, withdrawing.

"Yeah," Ranma confirmed in some relief.

Shampoo's mood shifted to a more serious one. "Shampoo want talk too, then," she said to Ranma's surprise. "You listen, okay?"

"What about?" Ranma asked, prompting Shampoo to glance around the room.

"No here," she said, and took Ranma by the hand and started leading him into the back.

"Alright, fine, but no funny business," Ranma said as he left sight, leaving Ryoga behind.

Cologne curiously hoped into view from the kitchen, watching after her great granddaughter. On seeing her, Ryoga rushed over. "Old lady, is it really true? All this Cupid stuff I mean?"

Cologne nodded. "Unfortunately yes. I had started to believe you too might be a victim given your long absence. Such is not the case?"

"No," Ryoga answered quickly, becoming nervous at the mere thought of such. "Is there nothing we can do? Don't you have a potion or something?"

Cologne let out a sad laugh and shook her head. "No. Nothing can cleanse away this I'm afraid. The only cure seems to be simply time, however unhelpful that is."

Ryoga hung his head. 'This is... is... a disaster!' he thought in misery. "Maybe... if we find Cupid..."

"Perhaps," Cologne conceded. "I'm sure Son-in-law is hopeful of such, as are many others. Although, it is far from certain that even Cupid has the ability to undo this."

"Are you saying... Akane might..." Ryoga started to ask.

"Akane, Ranma, Tofu, Shampoo... all may have to face that reality," Cologne replied.

Ryoga frowned, not liking that answer in the least, before pausing at noticing the nature of the names. "Wait, Ranma got affected too?"

Cologne looked at Ryoga curiously. "Forgot to mention, did he? Oh yes. He is apparently in love with Kasumi Tendo now," she answered.

'No wonder he was mad,' Ryoga thought. 'Although, I might be able to use that,' he added before his thoughts were interrupted by Cologne.

"Have you had any cause to suspect that Cupid has had some involvement in your life?" Cologne asked.

Ryoga quickly shook his head. "No."

"Think boy. It does not have to be yourself directly. Has anyone around you recently been affected?"

Ryoga thought for a moment, but once more shook his head. "I don't think so. Does that mean anything?"

"Perhaps," Cologne replied, but then shrugged. "Then again, perhaps not."

Ryoga pondered this a moment longer before noticing Ranma return. Unexpectedly, Ranma looked to be in a bit of shock. 'What happened?' Ryoga wondered.

A second behind Ranma, Shampoo appeared. Her appearance too was different, seeming almost depressed. As they entered the dinning area, Shampoo asked, "What Ranma want talk about?"

"Ah... forgot it," Ranma said quickly. "I got to go."

Leaving everyone a bit confused, Ranma rushed off without a further word. Ryoga was himself briefly stunned, realizing Ranma, for unknown reasons, had abandoned their objective here. While he was curious why, he dismissed such for the moment and instead turned to Shampoo himself. Seeing her expression, her head hung in thought, delayed him a moment, but finally he stepped forward.

"Shampoo, you know Mousse isn't Cupid, right?" Ryoga said suddenly, gaining the Amazon's attention.

Frowning at the mention of her unwanted lover, Shampoo reluctantly nodded.

"Then won't you let him come back?"

Shampoo's frown deepened. "This what Ranma come for?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah," Ryoga answered.

Shampoo continued her frown, looking to Cologne. The elder said nothing, merely watching. With a sigh, Shampoo turned back to Ryoga. "If is what Ranma want, will do."

Ryoga grew happy at this. "Oh, thank you so-"

"No get wrong idea. Shampoo still no like him," Shampoo said coldly before looking back at Cologne. "Great grandmother, can Shampoo go out?"

"Very well," Cologne replied before heading back into the kitchen.

XXXXX

"Man," Ranma moaned, kicking a can in front of him, a habit he was getting a bit too familiar with lately. "Why'd she have to go and say something like that," he mumbled as he walked.

Ranma did not really know how to take Shampoo's apology. It had caught him completely off guard. 'How am I suppose to respond to something like that?' he thought with a sigh. Truthfully, he tried not to dwell on the past. He had his own share of misdeeds to answer for, and really he did not want to get into back and forth with anyone over who was more in the wrong. Still, that did not mean he had simply forgotten.

'Hmm, she did seem honest enough,' Ranma thought. Shampoo could be deceptive, but she did so usually by playing innocent, or hurt. In this case she seemed to be truly contrite. Asking her to take Mousse back in after that just felt so wrong.

As Ranma approached the can for another kick, he heard laughter from a nearby yard. He looked just in time to see a pair of kids run out, both wielding water pistols and firing them at the other. Ranma tensed, but the kids passed by without hitting him. Sighing in relief, Ranma turned to leave, but found a third child smiling at him from behind. Before he could fully process this, the child pulled the trigger on his water pistol, spraying Ranma in the face, then quickly ran off giggling.

"Figures," the now female Ranma complained, but quickly dismissed her bad luck. Back on course, she starting kicking the can once more. After another couple of kicks, she reached the street corner. Her thoughts shifted to Akane, and the revelation Ryoga had brought her that had precipitated this whole thing. Frowning, Ranma took a particularly hard shot at the can.

Such was unfortunately timed as a figure rounded the corner at just that moment. Ranma cringed, fully expecting the worst and sure enough the can was on a direct course for the person's face. However, just before it hit, the person deftly snatched it from the air.

Whatever relief Ranma may have felt at this vanished when the figure lowered their hand to reveal it was in fact Kodachi. "Am I to interpret this as a sneak attack, Pigtailed girl?" she asked in an unusually calm tone.

"It was... I didn't see you, honest," Ranma quickly said, only then noticing Kodachi's new hairdo.

Kodachi gave Ranma a flat look, then shrugged and tossed the can across the street and into a trash can. "Let it not be said that Kodachi Kuno is without forgiveness," she said, before looking back at a perplexed Ranma. "I suppose you have heard I have changed interests in love."

"Uh... yeah."

"As such, there is no further cause for us to quarrel," Kodachi said, moving a few steps closer to speak. "Although, I must admit, I realize now that your relationship with Ranma was never clarified. I thought you perhaps were another of his supposed girlfriends, but seeing you now... are you his sister?"

"Uh... something like that," Ranma replied, deciding not to try and explain his curse.

"Hmm, I see, disappointing," Kodachi responded.

"Disappointing?" Ranma echoed in confusion.

Kodachi smiled slyly. "It would serve my interests far better for you to be his girlfriend."

"Oh, right," Ranma said with a bit of a nervous laugh.

Kodachi looked to the sky, growing dreamy. "Oh, if only my dearest Ukyo would see the truth of that vile man. I suppose, though, I cannot blame her as love can blind you to much."

"Truth?"

Kodachi frowned, and looked back to Ranma. "That he has never had any intention of marrying her," Kodachi explained, then sharply turned to the side, angry. "Oh, it so irritates me to know how he strings her along... taking advantage of her trust... has he no dignity?!" Kodachi asked, Ranma weakly trying to speak but getting cut off before she could speak a word. "No! Obviously not! Without the slightest guilt that man will freely take Ukyo's offers of free lunches and dinners... that cad!" Kodachi nearly yelled out, but stopped herself, sighed, took a moment to straighten an errant hair, and calmed. "If he was half the man he claims, he would tell her the truth, but he is not."

'Just grin and bear it, Ranma', the transformed boy thought to herself, doing just that.

"Ah, but I have to simply be patient. He will slip up inevitably, and then I will be there," Kodachi declared before refocusing on Ranma. "If you do see that no good brother of yours, feel free to convey what I have said. Perhaps it will have an impact. I doubt such, however. I should be off." Kodachi gave Ranma a brief nod before continuing on her way. Ranma likewise waved weakly goodbye.

'Yeah, tell Ukyo that... yeah, that would end really badly,' Ranma thought. Of all his unwanted fiancees, Ukyo worried him the most in fact. Shampoo, he could always leverage her love for him against her. Kodachi, it was just a big game to her in the first place. Ukyo though, her anger would go straight towards him, she was very serious, very capable, and had an ever growing list of complaints. It was difficult to predict exactly what would come, but the odds favored the worst. Even if Ranma beat the odds, she was almost certain that she could no longer count Ukyo as a friend.

As Ranma thought on this, her mind turned back to Shampoo's apology, wondering how Ukyo would take such a thing. 'Well, I might get off with just a thorough beating...' she thought in weak joke to herself. Shaking her head, she dismissed the idea for now. It was far from the first time she had considered it, and it would not be the last, no doubt, but like all the other times, Ranma just did not have the nerve to attempt it.

'Got to give Shampoo credit, at least she had the guts to do it,' Ranma thought. With one last sigh, and no more can to kick around, Ranma decided to head home.

XXXXX

Around that time, Shampoo was on her way to Ukyo's restaurant, although her mind was still on Ranma. She was not sure what to make of his reaction to her apology. 'He wasn't angry, but... I guess I was hoping for something... better,' she thought with a frown. She wanted desperately to talk over the incident with Tofu, but the doctor had once more been called out of town.

Shampoo frowned deeper at that. 'Figures, his mother gets sick the day after I go talk with Kasumi. What lousy timing,' she thought in irritation. It could not be helped but it frustrated her so, especially now.

She rounded the last corner to Ukyo's restaurant, her mind now turning to how to speak with Mousse. 'I just know he's going to get the wrong idea,' she thought with a growl before looking ahead at her destination and paused. Just outside was parked a large automobile, still running. Shampoo watched for a moment, seeing a familiar man exit the restaurant, and enter the vehicle before it drove off. Said man was L. 'What was he doing here?' Shampoo thought in puzzlement, hurrying her pace to the restaurant.

Stepping inside, she found the restaurant empty save Ukyo behind the grill. Her rival was staring down at said grill tensely. Shampoo was not sure what to make the the okonomiyaki chef's expression. She never got the chance to analyze such, as Ukyo noticed her, her expression quickly shifting to an angry glare. "What are you doing here?" Ukyo asked

"Why L here?" Shampoo asked back, causing Ukyo to hesitate.

"What do you care?" Ukyo evasively responded, looking away.

Shampoo examined Ukyo for a moment, debating whether to push the matter or drop it. In the end, she decided Ukyo would not bend to questioning if she had not already. With a huff, Shampoo asked, "Where Mousse?"

Ukyo relaxed some, and looked to the staircase. "He's upstairs. Just got back from his date," she replied. Seeing Shampoo cross her arms and take a seat, Ukyo sighed. "Fine, I'll get him. You're not going to kill him, are you?"

"No," Shampoo dryly answered.

Ukyo nodded in acknowledgment and headed upstairs, leaving Shampoo to wait. 'Why would L be here of all places?' Shampoo asked herself. 'Does he suspect Ukyo?' she wondered, but shook her head. Any further consideration was cut off as Mousse came rushing, then tumbling, down the stairs. Recovering quickly at the bottom he rushed over to Shampoo.

"Is it true?" Mousse asked hopefully as Shampoo gave him a tired look.

"Shampoo no even start talk yet..." Shampoo replied.

"But, you've forgiven me, right?" Mousse pressed on.

Ukyo came back down the stairs herself, but stopped at the doorway to the restaurant, leaning against it to watch.

Shampoo sighed, debating her words. "Shampoo just no think you Cupid anymore, and new girl no as fast at work as Mousse, so Mousse can come back if want."

"Oh, I do, I do!"

"At half pay," Shampoo quickly added.

"I'll go get my stuff," Mousse said excitedly, no longer listening, and rushed back upstairs, rushing past Ukyo who was covering her face with her hand.

"Seriously, you cut his pay in half?" Ukyo asked.

"Shampoo no one who pay him," Shampoo replied as she stood up. "Probably still ten times what you pay him."

Ukyo grew nervous at this, and looked away. "He gets free room and board too," she responded, getting a huff from Shampoo before the Amazon left. Seeing this, Ukyo followed Mousse back upstairs, finding him already in a rush to grab up his stuff. "You do realize something is up, right?"

Mousse paused and looked back at Ukyo in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"She doesn't really want you back. I'm guessing Cologne, or maybe even Ranma put her up to it," Ukyo explained.

"Ranma..." Mousse echoed, his mood darkening as he thought on that. "If it was Ranma, then he must want to get me away from Akane. That's a good thing."

"If you say so, Sugar," Ukyo replied, unconvinced and headed back downstairs to man the restaurant.

Mousse wondered at Ukyo's response for a moment. 'Maybe she's right. This may keep me away from Akane, but doesn't really get him and Akane back together. Damn him... But... I can't just refuse... Double damn him!' Mousse thought in frustration. 'Fine, if that's the way you want to play it Ranma, I'll go back, but I'll also keep seeing Akane. Your little scheme will fail!' he mentally declared.

XXXXX

Later that day, her work day done, Maho arrived at the hotel she was staying at. Mousse had indeed returned earlier that day, and while Maho had hoped this might ease things up on her, instead Cologne seemed to find all new work to put her too. Sighing with exhaustion, Maho entered the elevator and leaned against the wall. 'This is so not worth it!' she thought before the ding came for her floor.

No sooner had the elevator doors opened than Maho's cell phone rang. Exiting the elevator, Maho quickly pulled out the phone and answered. "Hello?"

"Maho, are you home?" L asked.

"Just got to our floor," Maho answered. "Where have you been? Have you gotten my messages?"

"Here, and yes, all very interesting. If you can, can you meet me in my room. It is time to discuss matters."

Maho debated briefly replying no, tired as she was, but quickly dismissed such. "I'll be there in a sec, hold on," she replied, hanging up and changing destinations.

She found the door to L's room unlocked and entered, announcing herself. Within, she found several laptops and numerous screens now scattered around the room, several boards with dozens of names and pictures on them, and even more plates, all with the remains of watermelons on them. On his seat as usual, L was in fact in the process of eating another watermelon as he typed away at another laptop on the table.

Seeing her L looked up. "Ah, Maho, come, sit. Would you like some watermelon?"

"Ah... sure, why not," she replied as she sat. L passed her a plate with several slices before returning to his work.

"I've grown to quite like the taste," L said before finishing his typing.

"Mousse is back at the Nekohanten, by the way. And, there is a new boy in town, Ryoga Hibiki. From what Cologne told me, he is in love with Akane Tendo as well, but that dates back well before all the Cupid incidents," Maho said.

"One wonders about that," L said.

"You think Cupid has been active a lot longer?" Maho asked, a possibility she too had considered.

"Perhaps, but unfortunately we cannot as yet confirm or refute such," L replied.

"And you got my message about the doctor, right?"

L nodded. "Yes, very interesting, which may yet prove to be key, but let's put that aside for the moment. As you know, Kasumi mentioned something to me during our talk that gave me new insight into Cupid's powers." Pausing, L took a bite of watermelon then asked, "What do we know about those that Cupid's victims fall in love with?"

Maho, who had just started eating her own watermelon piece, finished her bite and replied. "Cupid doesn't seem to need to know anything about them. Some have had no appearances on television."

"Exactly, and I left it at that, a mistake on my part. Understandable to be sure as I was analyzing data as it came in, but now that time has past, an important pattern has revealed itself," L explained and started pointing to the boards. "I have placed these people into two groups, those Cupid would likewise have the name of face of, and those she would not. The results are remarkable. Counter intuitively, when Cupid has more information, the effect is less durable."

"Less durable?" Maho asked.

"The love does not last," L explained. "It isn't an absolute, but over 90 percent of those Cupid would have had the name and face for the object of the love, the love effect has since passed. By contrast, those Cupid would lack a name and face for, so far with 100 percent consistency, are still in love."

"That is weird," Maho said as she eyed the boards and continued eating. "Do you think she is doing this deliberately?"

"If so, it is yet another power Cupid possesses, the ability to limit the duration. However, the pattern of the victims leads me to believe the odds favor this not being the case. However, since Kasumi Tendo did suggest this avenue of investigation, I do have to question that as potentially deliberate," L said, tapping his lip. "But that is not all, there is some other differences as well between these two groups.

"Those Cupid has the name and face for, when the victim falls in love, it quite often happened with no contact between the two individuals. By contrast, the other group, always had contact. It did not have to be direct. It could be talking on the phone, seeing their picture, but in some form they had contact," L explained. "What do you think about that?"

Maho frowned in thought. "I'm not sure," she said at first. "One would think she would need some mechanism to target an object for the love. So maybe, then, when she has more info, she can target them under all circumstances, but when she lacks such, she uses something simpler. Kinda like a cruise missile versus a proximity fuse."

"An interesting analogy, and apt I think," L said with a nod. "Although it still does not explain why more information gives us less duration."

"Maybe the added targeting is more expensive power wise and cuts into the duration?" Maho suggested.

"Perhaps, although that too has problems with the few cases where it is continuing to endure. However, let's put that aside for now. there is one more interesting case I wish to discuss.

"One particular pair was very interesting. Both movie stars, they were in a recent movie together as romantic leads. By all public knowledge, that was the extent of their relationship. However, in fact, they were carrying on a relationship unknown to the public. What is very interesting about this pair is that both fell in love with 2 other people. The other people Cupid would have lacked names and faces for. Even more interesting, these loves happened very nearly back to back. What do you make of this?" L asked.

Maho puzzled over the new info. "Two each?" she asked and gained a confirming nod from L. "If Cupid knew about their relationship and wanted to break them up, why two? Even if the first didn't do the job, you'd think she would wait to see such before adding another, but you say she didn't?"

"We can't be positive, but the timing is within minutes. The public would certainly be unaware of such," L elaborated. Seeing Maho puzzled by this, L said, "What do you think happens when Cupid attempts to use her power on people that are already in love?"

Maho blinked as she pondered this. "I suppose it could potentially... toggle it off, but we've seen no evidence of such, at least nothing obvious. Other possibility is it could increase the intensity, again we haven't seen anything like that. Or it could maybe overload... and direct at others?" Maho asked, L giving her a slight nod. "You think she was trying to get these two together, but because they already were, it misfired, but why twice each? One each I could understand."

"I've been considering that, but haven't come to a firm conclusion, but I do believe we are on the right track as far as the reasoning. Now then, in the light of this new information, let us look at the incidents of interest here in Nerima," L prompted.

Maho leaned back and began thinking aloud. "Shampoo's love for Mousse lasted mere days. Assuming it wasn't fake, that would mean it was a targeted one, with Cupid knowing Mousse's name and face."

"I would agree."

"Kodachi... now she's still in love even today. Plus, as I recall, she just happened to be walking by Ukyo's restaurant at the time," Maho said in realization. "She wasn't targeted at Ukyo?"

"Perhaps. What I didn't mention is there is another tell tale sign that it is not specifically targeted love. Without fail, all such loves always target those who are of compatible sexual orientation," L said.

"But Ukyo likes Ranma... wait, he can turn into a girl..." Maho said in thought

"Yes, I had to contact Ukyo directly earlier today to confirm my suspicion. I asked her quite bluntly her sexual orientation, making sure to emphasize that an inaccurate answer could potentially lead the case astray."

"And?"

"She grew nervous and would not answer," L replied. "Which is all the response I needed. If she were heterosexual, there would be little reason to not answer. So, that means Kodachi was not directed to love Ukyo specifically. It was a mere coincidence."

Maho thought on that for a second then moved on. "And Akane and Ranma... It isn't quite the same, because it is only one each, but it is a lot like that pair you just told me about. That means, Cupid may have been trying to get them together, not break them apart."

"Yes, this leads us to quite different conclusions as to our Cupid's original intents," L said, grabbing up another slice of watermelon. "But that is not all. Assuming you are right, and Cupid was trying to get Ranma and Akane together, what is your impression of all of this?"

Maho frowned in thought as L started eating his slice. "Hmm... well... seems kinda sloppy."

"I would say naive, but yes," L agreed.

"What was she doing, messing around?"

"Possibly, but the pattern of the early victims still indicates a directed intent rather than simple testing," L said. "What I'm more concerned with, though, is the drastic change," he continued, confusing Maho. "You mentioned it yourself when we first discussed the case, the attack on the police was quite atypical for Cupid up to that point."

"Well, clearly, all that use of her power on other people made her a lot better."

"Did it though?" L asked, once more confusing Maho. "I considered that, so I looked for any pattern of improved usage of her power, particularly any signs of puppeting her victims. There are a few cases, but all very minimal in extent. Nothing even approaches the complexity of the puppeting we see in the attack on the police. In fact, her usage in general shows only a very slow progression."

"So, what are you saying? The attack on the police wasn't carried out by Cupid?" Maho asked in shock.

L nodded. "By our original Cupid, no. Clearly the individual attacking the police had Cupid's power, but the methods and planning are on a completely different level than anything the original Cupid has shown."

"So, did the original Cupid puppet... no, that doesn't make sense, it was the other Cupid that puppeted people..."

"Yes. Rather than a puppet, I think we do indeed have two Cupids, although since both stopped activity at the same time, and the second appears to be protecting the first, they are somehow connected," L said with a frown as he looked to the boards.

"So, where does that get us?" Maho asked.

"It puts us back a bit, unfortunately, but puts us on firmer ground. We know little of the second Cupid. We cannot even conclude anything about the second Cupid's gender at this time. We know only that he or she seems protective of the first, although not the reasons why. However, I still think Kasumi is a good suspect for our first Cupid. Most of our other information on Cupid remains intact, and Kasumi still matches it quite well. There are also many people who would potentially wish to protect her."

"Ranma, her father, her sisters..." Maho said with a nod. "Still, you said she didn't seem like Cupid."

"More accurately I said she did not respond as I anticipated," L pointed out. "There is the possibility now that the second Cupid has affected her."

"But she hasn't fallen in love with anyone," Maho said, to which L nodded.

"True, although such may yet still occur. We are dealing with mysterious powers here to which the full limits of such are still unknown to us. We know Cupid can set a time for a love to occur, but not the exact limits of such. This makes me wonder about the doctor in particular. You said he was affected after the police."

"That's right," Maho confirmed.

"The doctor is one of those that would have cause to protect Kasumi. It is possible that he could be the second Cupid and used the power on himself in an effort to conceal such," L suggested. Maho was shocked by this, but before she could respond, L continue. "Unfortunately, that is just conjecture at this point. It does open the possibility, though, that both Cupids may not even be aware that they were Cupid any longer."

"And if that is the case?"

"That will make solving this case considerably more difficult," L replied. "It is time, I think, to cast a wider net. Ukyo mentioned, while I was speaking with her, that she, Akane and Mousse would like to assist me. I think I shall take them up on the offer, as well as the others."

"I don't understand," Maho said.

"I'm going to gather all the major players together and bring them in. Both Cupids undoubtedly have a close connection if they are not within the group directly. Either way, the pressure on Cupid will increase as they will have not only myself but everyone focused on finding them. As well, if they are within the group, I will be able to observe them more directly," L explained, getting a nod of understanding from Maho. "However, I want you to maintain a lower profile for now. Continue your current activities. I will speak with Ke Lun privately on the matter, but I am certain she will cooperate."

Maho sighed, but nodded in acceptance.

"Good, I am also in the process of setting us up some more long term housing," L added.

"Long term?"

"Yes. If the Cupid power has been used to remove the memories of the Cupid's, it may take considerable time to prove such. Is that a problem?"

"Uh... I guess not," Maho replied.

**End Chapter 14**

Another chapter done. Some might be wondering why I didn't elaborate on Shampoo's apology. I'm trying to keep this story low key, so decided since I didn't really need it as the important bits is that it was simply given and the reaction to such, I'd have it done off page as it were. You may also notice I've been generally avoiding giving detailed fight scenes for much the same reason. I won't avoid it always though. As the story goes along I'm certain I'll have to have some serious moments.

Just a little side blurb on Shampoo's comment about Ukyo's pay. Konatsu apparently got paid a mere 5 yen an hour by Ukyo, so assuming Mousse is similarly paid, if Mousse is getting anything even remotely close to reasonable pay at the Nekohanten, even at half it probably would be more than 10 times what Ukyo pays out.

Not sure when I'll be getting back to this next. I may be doing an editing pass through the earlier chapters. Among other things, have to fix a minor glitch with the description of Ukyo's restaurant: I described it as having tables, when in fact it has none, which I can get away with in my other stories as they are alt-verses where Ukyo may have gotten a different location, but in this case I can't, not that it matters much.

As I always say, I'm open to input here. My ideas are sketchy at best.


End file.
